Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Some Major Issues Concerning Adhering to and Refining the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advancing the Modernization of China’s National Governance System and Governance Capacity 

(adopted at the Fourth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on October 31, 2019).  

In order to implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress, the Fourth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee, focusing on several major issues on adhering to and refining socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity, has made the following decisions. 

Significance and general requirements of upholding and improving the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity

Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a scientific system formed by the Party and the people during long-term practical exploration. All national governance work and activities in China are carried out in accordance with the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and China’s governance system and capacity are the concentrated embodiment of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its implementation ability. 

Since its establishment, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has united and led the people, insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s actual conditions, and won the victory of the Chinese Revolution. It has profoundly drawn upon both positive and negative experiences at home and abroad, and constantly explored and practiced, reformed and innovated. It has established and perfected the socialist system; formed and developed the Party’s leadership and systems in various aspects such as the economy, politics, culture, society, ecological civilization, military, and foreign affairs; strengthened and improved national governance; and made historic achievements. Since the 18th CCP National Congress, the Party has led the people in advancing the “Five-Sphere Integrated Plan” overall layout and advancing the “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy” strategic layout in a coordinated manner, and promoted a more perfect system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and a significantly higher level of modernization of China’s governance system and capacity, providing strong assurance for political stability, economic development, cultural prosperity, solidarity among nationalities, the people’s happiness, social tranquility, and national unity. 

In the seven decades since the founding of New China, our Party has led the people in creating a miracle of rapid economic development and long-term social stability rarely seen in the world, and the Chinese nation has ushered in a great leap from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong. Practice has proven that the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the national governance system are guided by Marxism, deeply rooted in China and Chinese culture and deeply supported by the people, and has great vitality and enormous superiority—a national system and governance system that can continuously promote the progress and development of a large country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion and ensure that the Chinese nation with over 5,000 years of civilization history can achieve the “Two Centennial” objectives and achieve great rejuvenation. 

China’s state system and national governance system have many significant advantages, the main ones being: (1) adherence to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party and adherence to the Party’s scientific theories, maintaining political stability, and ensuring that the country always moves in a socialist direction; (2) adherence to the people being the masters of the country, developing people’s democracy, maintaining close ties with the masses, and relying closely on the people to promote national development; (3) adherence to the comprehensive rule of law, building a socialist state under the rule of law, and effectively safeguarding social justice and people’s rights; (4) adherence to taking into account the overall interest of the whole country, mobilizing the enthusiasm of all parties, and concentrating our forces on major tasks; (5) adherence to the principle of equality among all ethnic groups, forging a sense of community within the Chinese nation, and achieving common unity and struggle as well as common prosperity and development; (6) adherence to public ownership as the mainstay of the economy and allowing diverse forms of ownership to develop side by side, with distribution according to labor as the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution co-existing, organically combining the socialist system and the market economy to continuously liberate and develop the productive forces of society; (7) adherence to common ideals and beliefs, values, and moral concepts; promoting the excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture; and promoting the ideological and spiritual solidarity of all the people; (8) adherence to the people-centered development ideology, constantly safeguarding and improving the people’s livelihood and promoting their well-being, and taking the path to common prosperity; (9) adherence to reform and innovation, advancing with the times, and excelling at self-improvement and self-development so that society is always full of vitality and vigor; (10) adherence to both virtue and talent, selecting virtuous people, gathering talents from all over the world, and cultivating more and more outstanding talents; (11) adherence to the Party’s command of the gun, ensuring the absolute loyalty of the people’s army to the Party and the people, and vigorously safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests; (12) adherence to “one country, two systems,” maintaining the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao, and promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland; and (13) adherence to independence and openness to the outside world, actively participating in global governance, and continuously contributing to the building of a community of human destiny. These significant advantages are the fundamental basis for our firm confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 

The world today is experiencing unprecedented changes unseen in a century, and China is in the midst of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In order to be in tune with the times, adapt to changes in the main contradictions in our society; have overall control of great struggles, great projects, great undertakings, and great dreams; continuously meet the people’s new expectations for better life; and overcome the various risks and challenges on the way forward, we must make greater efforts to adhere to and refine the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and to promote the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity. 

We must adhere to taking Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the “Three Represents,” the scientific concept of development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guide; strengthen the “Four Consciousnesses”; steadily maintain the “Confidence in Four Areas”; and achieve the “Two Upholds.” We must adhere to the Party’s leadership, the people’s sovereignty, and the organic unity of the rule of law; adhere to the ideological guideline of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts; adhere to reform and innovation; highlight adherence to and refinement of the fundamental and important systems supporting the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics; strive to fortify the foundation, capitalize on advantages, make up shortcomings and strengthen weaknesses; build a complete institutional system that is scientifically regulated and effectively operated; enhance systematic governance, law-based governance, comprehensive governance, and governance at the source; and better transform the advantages of our system into national governance efficacy, thereby providing strong assurance for achieving the “Two Centennial” objectives and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 

The overall goals of adhering to and refining the system of socialism system with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of governance capacity and the national governance system are that by the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Party, significant results will be achieved in all aspects of making the system more mature and finalized; by 2035, the system will be improved in all aspects, and the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity will be basically realized; and by 100 years after the founding of New China, the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity will be fully realized so that the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics will be further consolidated and its superiority fully demonstrated.  

Adhering to and refining the Party’s leadership system, and improving the Party’s scientific governance, democratic governance, and law-based governance

Leadership by the CCP is the most intrinsic feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is the biggest advantage of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the Party is the supreme political leadership force. We must adhere to “Party, government, army, society, and education—east and west, north, south, and central, the Party leads all,” firmly maintain the authority of the Party Central Committee, improve the Party’s leadership system of exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all, and put into practice the Party’s leadership in all aspects of national governance. 

1. Establish a system that remains true to our original aspiration and keeps our mission firmly in mind. Ensure that the whole Party observes the Party Constitution; abide by the nature and purpose of the Party; adhere to the communist ideals and the common ideals of socialism with Chinese characteristics to unite the Party and the people; and use Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to arm the Party, educate the people, guide work, and strengthen the ideological foundations of the Party’s rule. Take “remaining true to our original aspiration and keeping our mission firmly in mind” as the eternal task for strengthening the Party’s construction and the lifelong task for all Party members and cadres, form long-term mechanisms, and persistently cultivate in Party members and cadres a loyal, clean, and responsible political character. Fully implement the Party’s basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy, and continue to promote the Party’s theoretical, practical, and institutional innovation so that all work conforms to the trends of the times and the laws of development and reflects the aspirations of the people, thereby ensuring that the Party is always ahead of the times and receives the people’s heartfelt support. 

2. Improve the various systems that staunchly maintain the authority and centralized leadership of the Party Central Committee. Press the whole Party to enhance the “Four Consciousness,” strengthen the “Four Matters of Confidence,” and achieve the “Two Upholds”; consciously maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee, with comrade Xi Jinping as the core, in terms of ideology, politics, and action; and resolutely put into practice upholding General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position on the CCP Central Committee and in the Party as a whole. Improve the Party Central Committee’s leadership system for major work; strengthen the functional role of the Party Central Committee’s decisionmaking, deliberative, and coordinating organizations; improve mechanisms to promote the implementation of major decisions of the Party Central Committee; and strictly implement the system for reporting to the Party Central Committee for instructions to ensure strict enforcements of orders and prohibitions. Improve the organizational system for maintaining the centralized unity of the Party, and form a tight system of central, local, and grassroots organizations that is connected top to bottom and powerful in implementation, achieving full coverage of the Party’s organization and work. 

3. Improve the Party’s overall leadership system. Refine the system of Party leadership of organizations such as the National Assembly; the government; the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); supervisory institutions; the judiciary; procuratorial institutions; the armed forces; people’s organizations, enterprises, and institutions; grassroots self-governing organizations; and social organizations, and improve the work systems of Party committees (Party groups) at all levels, ensuring that the Party plays a leading role in organizations of all kinds. Refine the specific systems of Party leadership over various undertakings, and put the Party’s leadership into place in the overall planning for promotion of the “Five-Sphere Integrated Plan” overall layout and in coordinating promotion of the “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy” strategic layout of all aspects. Refine the system of Party and state institutions and functions, implement the Party’s leadership throughout the duty performance processes of all national and Party institutions, and promote coordinated action and enhanced synergy in all areas.

4. Improve systems for governing for the people and relying on the people in governing. Adhere to building the Party for the public and governing for the people, and maintain the Party’s flesh and blood ties to the people. Throughout the Party’s work in governing the country, respect public opinion, pool the wisdom and power of the people, and improve the people’s livelihood; consolidate the Party’s class foundation for governing and reinforce the Party’s mass foundation for governing; ensure the people’s main position in national governance by improving systems; and strive to prevent the danger of alienation from the masses. Implement the Party’s mass line, improve systems for Party members and cadres to contact the masses, innovate mass work mechanisms in the Internet era, always serve the masses, trust the masses, rely on the masses, lead the masses, and go deeply among the masses and the grassroots. Improve systems for broad, mass-service group work; press people’s organizations to improve their political, advanced, and mass nature; and tightly unite the masses they contact around the Party. 

5. Improve systems for raising the Party’s governing ability and leadership level. Adhere to democratic centralism; refine systems for developing inner-Party democracy and implementing correct centralization; and improve the Party’s ability to steer the direction, ascertain the overall situation, determine policies, and promote reform. Improve decisionmaking mechanisms; strengthen the investigation and study, scientific verification, and risk assessment of major decisions; and strengthen the implementation, evaluation, and supervision of decisions. Improve the Party’s leadership and governing methods, and enhance the political function and organizational strength of Party organizations at all levels. Improve incentive mechanism for taking action; encourage leading cadres at all levels to enhance their kills for learning, political leadership, reform and innovation, scientific development, lawful governing according to law, mass work, attentive implementation, and risk management; carry forward the spirit of struggle; and enhance struggle skills. 

6. Improve systems for full and strict governance over the Party. Adhere to the Party’s self-supervision and full and strict governance over the Party, enhance the sense of urgency, and constantly promote the Party’s self-reform so as to perpetuate the Party’s advanced nature and purity. Implement the general requirements of the Party’s construction in the new era, deepen the reform of the Party’s construction system, adhere to the governing the Party according to regulations, establish and improve “taking the Party’s political construction as the leading role,” and comprehensively promote systems and mechanisms for construction of the Party in all areas. Adhere to the Party’s organizational line in the new era, and improve the Party’s cadre management, selection, and appointment systems. Standardize the political life of the Party, strictly apply political discipline and political rules, develop a positive and healthy political culture within the Party, and comprehensively purify the inner-party political ecology. Improve and implement the responsibility system for full and strict governance over the Party. Resolutely fight all the problems that affect the Party’s advanced nature and weaken its purity, vigorously correct formalism and bureaucratism, and constantly enhance the Party’s creativity, cohesion, and combative strength, ensuring that the Party always becomes the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Adhering to and refining the system of people’s ownership, and developing socialist democratic politics

China is a socialist country under the democratic dictatorship of the people led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. All the powers of the state belong to the people. We must adhere to the primacy of the people, unswervingly follow the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, improve the democratic system, enrich the forms of democracy, and broaden democratic channels; implement democratic elections, democratic consultation, democratic decisionmaking, democratic management, and democratic supervision in accordance with the law so that all aspects of the system and national governance better reflect the will of the people; and protect the rights and interests of the people, stimulate the creativity of the people, and ensure that the people manage state affairs and economic and cultural undertakings in various ways and forms in accordance with the law. 

1. Adhere to and refine the system of people’s congresses as the fundamental political system. The institutions through which the people exercise state power are the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the local people’s congresses at all levels. Support and guarantee the people’s exercise of state power through people’s congresses; guarantee that people’s congresses at all levels are democratically elected, accountable to the people, and supervised by the people; and that state institutions at all levels are elected by, accountable to, and supervised by people’s congresses. Support and guarantee the exercise of powers by the NPC and its Standing Committee in accordance with the law, and improve the NPC’s supervision system of “one government, one commission, and two courts.” Establish closer contact between NPC deputies and the people, improve the liaison mechanisms of the deputies, and better exploit the role of NPC deputies. Improve the NPC organizational system, electoral system, and rules of procedure, and refine the system of argumentation, assessment, evaluation, and hearing. Appropriately increase the number of grassroots NPC deputies. Strengthen construction of local people’s congresses and their standing committees. 

2. Adhere to and refine the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CCP. Implement the policy of long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, sincere treatment of each other, and sharing good fortune and bad; strengthen construction of the political party system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and improve mutual supervision, especially the CCP’s conscious acceptance of supervision and mechanisms such as special supervision for the implementation of major decisions and deployments; refine the system for central committees of democratic parties to put forward proposals directly to the CCP Central Committee; and refine methods for supporting democratic parties and people without party affiliation in performing their functions, demonstrating the advantages of China’s new type of political party system. Fully exploit the efficacy of the CPPCC as a political organization and form of democracy; raise the level of political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in political affairs; and better build consensus. Refine the system of special consultative bodies of the CPPCC, enrich the forms of consultation and improve the rules of consultation, optimize the setting up of sectors, and improve the procedural mechanisms for promoting democracy and increasing unity and interconnectedness, as well as giving suggestions to the government and building consensus. Adhere to the unique advantages of socialist consultative democracy, and comprehensively promote consultation by and among political parties, the NPC, the government, the CPPCC, people’s groups, grassroots organizations, and social organizations; build a consultative democracy system with reasonable procedures and complete links; refine the implementation mechanism for consultation before decisions are made and during the implementation of decisions; and enrich the institutionalized practice where—when there are matters to discuss—matters concerning all the people are discussed by all the people. 

3. Consolidate and develop the broadest patriotic united front. Adhere to the general pattern of great united front work; adhere to the unity of consistency and diversity; refine the policy of taking care of the interests of allies; do ethnic and religious work well; improve the system for building up the ranks of representatives outside the Party; gather together the strength of Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, Taiwan compatriots, and overseas compatriots; seek the greatest common divisor and draw the largest concentric circle; and promote harmony in relations between political parties, between ethnic groups, between religions and classes, and between compatriots at home and abroad.

4. Adhere to and refine the system of regional ethnic autonomy. Unswervingly follow the correct path of solving ethnic issues with Chinese characteristics; adhere to the equality of all ethnic groups; adhere to the common unity and struggle and common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups; ensure that ethnic autonomous areas exercise autonomy in accordance with the law; protect the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minorities; and consolidate and develop socialist ethnic relations of equality, unity, mutual assistance, and harmony. Ceaselessly carry out the Marxist views of the motherland, nationalities, cultural and historical propaganda, and education so as to build up a strong ideological foundation for the Chinese national community. Comprehensively, deeply, and persistently carry out the establishment of ethnic unity and progress, and strengthen the interaction and exchange of all ethnic groups. Support and help ethnic areas to accelerate development, and continuously improve the living standards of the masses of all ethnic groups. 

5. Improve the dynamic system of grassroots self-government. Improve the grassroots mass self-government mechanism led by grassroots party organizations; in rural and urban community governance, grassroots public affairs, and public welfare undertakings, implement wide-ranging self-management, self-service, self-education, and self-monitoring; broaden channels for the people to reflect their views and suggestions; and strive to make direct democracy at the grassroots level more institutionalized, standardized, and programmatic. Wholeheartedly rely on the working class, and improve the democratic management system of enterprises and institutions, with workers’ congresses as the basic form; explore effective ways for enterprise workers to participate in management; assure workers’ rights to information, participation, expression, and supervision; and protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers. 

Adhering to and refining the rule of law system socialism with Chinese characteristics, and improve the Party’s ability to rule the country according to law and governing according to law

Building a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics and building a socialist rule of law state is an inherent requirement for adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must unswervingly take the road of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, promote the rule of law in an all-around manner, and insist on ruling the country according to law, governing according to law, and administering according to law advance together; adhere to unified construction of country, government, and society under the rule of law; accelerate the formation of a complete system of legal norms, a highly efficient rule of law implementation system, a strict rule of law supervision system, and a powerful rule of law protection system; accelerate the formation of a sound system of party regulations; and comprehensively promote scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, impartial justice, compliance with the law by all so as to promote the construction of China under the rule of law. 

1. Improve systems and mechanisms to ensure full implementation of the Constitution. To rule the country according to law, the first thing is to adhere to ruling the country according to the Constitution; to govern according to law, the first thing is to adhere to governing according to the Constitution. Strengthen constitutional implementation and supervision, implement procedural mechanisms for interpreting the Constitution, promote constitutionality review work, strengthen the record review system and capacity building, and withdraw and correct unconstitutional and unlawful regulatory documents. Adhere to the supremacy of the Constitution and the law; improve safeguard mechanisms for equality before the law, etc.; and protect the unity, dignity, and authority of the national legal system. All acts in violation of the Constitution or the law must be investigated. 

2. Refine legislative systems and mechanisms. Adhere to scientific legislation, democratic legislation, and legislation in accordance with law; refine the pattern of legislative work with Party committees leading it, the NPCs guiding it, the government that relies on it, and all parties involved in it, with the simultaneous making, revision, abolition, and interpretation of laws so as to constantly raise legislative quality and efficiency. Refine the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics having the Constitution as the core, strengthen lawmaking in important domains, accelerate construction of the legal system of extra-jurisdictional application of China’s laws, and use good laws to assure governance. 

3. Improve the system for assuring social justice under the rule of law. Adhere to rule of law construction for the people, relying on the people; strengthen rule of law safeguards for human rights, ensuring that people enjoy broad rights and freedoms, and assume their obligations, in accordance with the law; and guide all of the people to be loyal advocates, conscious observers, and firm defenders of the socialist rule of law. Adhere to abiding by all laws, strictly enforcing laws and investigating violations of laws, strictly regulate impartial and civilized law enforcement, regulate law enforcement discretionary power, and step up law enforcement efforts in key areas of vital interest to the public. Deepen comprehensive supporting reforms of the judicial system; refine the trial system and procuratorial system; fully implement the judicial accountability system; refine the lawyer system; strengthen the supervision of judicial activities; ensure justice is impartial, efficient, and authoritative; and strive to make people sense fairness and justice in every judicial case. 

4. Strengthen supervision of the implementation of laws. Ensure that administrative, supervisory, judicial, and prosecutorial powers are correctly exercised in accordance with law; ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, corporations, and other organizations receive effective protection; and resolutely exclude interference in law enforcement and judicial activities. Expand the scope public interest litigation. Increase punishments for serious violations, implement a punitive compensation system, and strictly pursue criminal liability. Intensify universal law popularization work, enhance the concept of the rule of law for all, refine the public legal services system, and consolidate the mass foundation of ruling the country according to law. Party and state institutions at all levels, as well as leading cadres, set an example in observing, learning, and using the law, and heighten their ability to use rule of law thinking and rule of law methods to deepen reform, promote development, resolve conflicts, maintain stability, and deal with risks. 

Adhering to and refining the administrative system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and constructing a governance system with clear duties and administration in accordance with law 

State administrative management bears the important responsibility of promoting economic and social development, managing social affairs, and serving the people in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party and the state. We must adhere to all administrative organs being in the service of the people, accountable to the people and supervised by the people, innovate administrative methods, improve administrative efficiency, and establish a service-oriented government that meets the people’s satisfaction. 

1. Refine the state administration system. Focus on promoting the optimization, synergy, and efficiency of state institution functions, and optimize systems for administrative decisionmaking, implementation, organization, and supervision. Improve the coordination and cooperation mechanisms of departments to prevent fragmented governing and policy effects offsetting each other. Deepen reform of the administrative law enforcement system and minimize unnecessary administrative law enforcement matters. Further integrate administrative law enforcement teams; continue to explore implementation of cross-sector, cross-departmental comprehensive law enforcement; encourage shifting the center of gravity of law enforcement; and increase the ability level of administrative law enforcement. Implement the administrative law enforcement responsibility system and accountability system. Innovate in administrative management and services, accelerate the construction of a nationwide integrated government services platform, and improve the system of strong administrative enforcement so as to raise the government’s executive power and credibility. 

2. Optimize the government responsibility system. Refine the government’s functions in terms of economic regulation, market supervision, social management, public service, ecological and environmental protection, etc.; implement the government powers and responsibilities list system; and clarify the relationship between the government and the market and between the government and society. Deeply promote administrative streamlining, delegation of powers, service optimization, and combining delegation with management, and deepen reform of the administrative approval system so as to improve the business environment and stimulate the vitality of all sorts of market entities. Improve the macroeconomic control system with national development planning as the strategic direction; fiscal and monetary policies as the main instruments; and policies on employment, industry, investment, consumption, and regions acting synergistically. Refine the system of major national development strategies and medium- and long-term economic and social development planning. Refine the budget system with scientific standards, transparent regulation, and powerful constraints. Build a modern central banking system, improve basic money delivery mechanisms, and improve the system of benchmark interest rates and market-based interest rates. Practice strict market supervision, quality supervision and security supervision, and strengthen punishment for violations. Improve the public service system and promote the equalization and accessibility of basic public services. Establish and improve institutional rules for administrative management using the internet, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other technical means. Promote the construction of digital government, enhance the orderly sharing of data, and protect personal information in accordance with law. 

3. Optimize the organizational structure of the government. Promote the defining of institutions, functions, authority, procedures, and responsibilities in law so that government institutions are more scientifically set up, functions are more optimized, and powers and responsibilities are more synergistic. Strictly manage the establishment of institutions, coordinate the use of administrative resources, and save administrative costs. Optimize administrative division adjustment, improve the comprehensive bearing capacity and resource optimization ability of central cities and urban clusters, implement flat management, and form a high-efficiency organizational system. 

4. Improve systems and mechanisms for giving full play to both central and local initiative. Rationalize the relationship between central and local powers and responsibilities; strengthen the central macro-level management of affairs; and preserve the uniformity of the national legal system, policies and decrees, and the market. Appropriately strengthen the central government’s authority in such areas as intellectual property protection, pension insurance, and cross-regional ecological and environmental protection, and reduce and regulate the common rights of the central government and local authorities to handle affairs. Give more autonomy to localities and support them in carry out work creatively. Regulate the vertical management system, and the local hierarchical management system, in accordance with the principle of responsibility consistent with authority. Optimize the division among governments of financial powers and rights to handle affairs; establish a central-local fiscal relationship with clear powers and responsibilities, coordinated financial resources, and regional balance; and form a stable system in which the rights to handle affairs, expenditure responsibilities, and financial resources of governments at all levels are well matched. From the central to local government level, build a dynamic and smoothly operating work system with clear powers and responsibilities. 

Adhering to and refining the basic socialist economic system, and promoting high-quality economic development

The joint development of a variety of economic systems of ownership with public ownership as the mainstay, the coexistence of a variety of distribution methods with distribution according to labor as the mainstay, and the socialist market economy system and other basic socialist economic systems not only reflect the superiority of the socialist system, but are also well adapted to China’s level of social productivity development in the primary stage of socialism, and they are a great creation of the Party and the people. We must adhere to the basic socialist economic system, give full rein to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources, better utilize the government’s role, fully implement the new development concept, and adhere to supply-side structural reform as the main line so as to accelerate construction of a modern economic system. 

1. Unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector economy, and unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector economy. Explore multiple forms of public ownership; promote optimization of the layout and structure of the state-owned economy; develop the mixed ownership economy; strengthen the abilities of the state-owned economy in terms of competitiveness, innovation, control, influence, and withstanding risks; and strengthen, optimize, and enlarge state-owned capital. Deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics. Form a state-owned asset supervision system focusing on capital management to effectively play the role of state-owned capital in investing in and operating companies. Improve the rule of law environment to support development of the private economy and foreign-invested enterprises, refine the policy system for building cordial and clean relationships between government and business, improve systems supporting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the healthy development of the non-public sector of the economy and the healthy growth of people in the non-public sector. Create a market environment in which entities under all forms of ownership are legally equal in the use of resource factors; compete on an open, fair, and equitable basis; and are afforded equal legal protection. Deepen reform of the rural collective property rights system, develop the rural collective economy, and refine the basic rural business system. 

2. Adhere to the distribution of labor as the mainstay, with multiple distribution methods co-existing. Adhere to more pay for more work; focus on the protection of labor income; increase the labor compensation of workers, especially front-line workers; and raise the proportion of labor compensation in the primary distribution of income. Improve mechanisms for market-based evaluation of the contributions of labor, capital, land, knowledge, technology, management, data, and other factors of production, and for determining compensation according to contributions. Improve redistribution and adjustment mechanisms with taxation, social security, and transfer payments as the main means; strengthen tax adjustment; and refine the direct taxation system and gradually increase its proportion. Refine relevant systems and policies to reasonably regulate the allocation relationships between urban and rural areas, different regions, and different groups. Emphasize giving full play to the role of tertiary distribution, and develop charitable and other social welfare undertakings. Encourage getting rich through hard work, protect legitimate income, increase the income of low-income earners, expand middle-income groups, adjust excessive income, clean up and regulate hidden income, and outlaw illegal income. 

3. Accelerate refinement of the socialist market economy system. Construct a high-standards market system, improve the fair competition system, fully implement the negative list system for market access, reform the production licensing system, and improve the bankruptcy system. Strengthen the basic position of competition policy, implement the fair competition review system, and strengthen and improve anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition law enforcement. Improve the system of property rights protection based on the principle of fairness, establish a punitive compensation system for intellectual property infringement, and strengthen the protection of enterprise trade secrets. Promote the construction of the market system for factors of production, to achieve market-oriented pricing, autonomous and orderly flow, and efficient and fair allocation of factors. Strengthen protection of consumer rights and interests and explore the establishment of a class action system. Strengthen construction of the capital market infrastructure system; improve the modern financial system featuring high adaptability, competitiveness, and universality; and effectively prevent and defuse financial risks. Optimize the underlying database for economic governance. Improve the systems and mechanisms for promoting development of advanced manufacturing industries and revitalizing the real economy. Implement the rural revitalization strategy, refine institutional policies for priority development of agriculture and rural areas and ensuring national food security, and improve systems and mechanisms for rural-urban integration development. Build new mechanisms for coordinated regional development, and form a regional economic layout with obvious main functions, complementary advantages, and high-quality development. 

4. Refine systems and mechanisms for scientific and technological innovation. Promote the spirit of science and the spirit of craftsmanship, accelerate construction of an innovation-oriented country, strengthen the national strategic science and technology (S&T) forces, improve the national laboratory system, and build a new system of key core technology research under the socialist market economy conditions. Increase investment in basic research and improve systems and mechanisms for encouraging and supporting basic research and original innovation. Establish an enterprise-oriented and market-oriented technology innovation system with deep integration of industries, universities, and research institutions; support collaborative integration by large, medium, and small enterprises and all kinds of entities; innovate mechanisms to promote the transformation of S&T achievements into practical applications, actively develop new driving forces, and strengthen leadership on standards so as to elevate the basic capabilities of industries and the modernization levels of production chains. Refine mechanisms for discovering, training, and motivating S&T talents; improve the S&T management system and policy system in line with the fundamental principles of scientific research; enhance the S&T evaluation system; and improve the governance system for S&T ethics. 

5. Construct a new, higher-level open economy system. Implement comprehensive opening that is broader in scope, wider ranging, and at a deeper level; promote the expanded opening of manufacturing, services, and agriculture; protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign capital; promote fair competition between domestic and foreign enterprises; expand the diversification of foreign trade; and steadily advance renminbi internationalization. Improve the system of pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management for foreign investment, and promote the opening up of rules, regulations, management, standards, and other systems. Improve the policy and service system for promoting foreign investment. Accelerate construction of pilot free trade zones, free trade ports, and other “high ground” for opening up to the outside world. Promote the establishment of international macroeconomic policy coordination mechanisms. Improve the system of foreign investment national security review, anti-monopoly review, and national technology security list management, as well as the list of unreliable entities. Refine the system of foreign-related economic and trade laws and rules. 

Adhering to and refining systems for the prosperity and development of advanced socialist culture, and consolidating the common ideological foundation for the united struggle of all the people 

The development of advanced socialist culture and the broad cohesion of the people’s spiritual strength are profound supports for the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. We must have firm cultural confidence and securely grasp the forward direction of advanced socialist culture; focus on the mission of raising the banner, bringing people’s hearts together, nurturing new people, rejuvenating the culture, and presenting our image; insist on serving the people and socialism; adhere to letting 100 flowers bloom and 100 schools of thought contend; adhere to creative transformation and innovative development; and stimulate the cultural creative vitality of the entire nation so as to better build the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese power. 

1. Adhere to the fundamental system of Marxism holding the guiding position in the realm of ideology. Comprehensively implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, improve systems for arming the Party with innovative theories and educating the people, refine the learning system at all levels such as the Theoretical Learning Center Groups of Party committees (Party groups), and construct and make good use of online learning platforms. Deeply implement the Marxist Theoretical Research and Construction Project, and fully implement adherence to Marxism as the guide in all aspects of ideological and theoretical construction, philosophical and social science research, and education and teaching. Strengthen and improve ideological and political education in schools, and establish all-round, whole-process, and comprehensive education systems and mechanisms. Implement the responsibility system for ideological work; pay attention to discriminating between issues of political principles, ideological understanding, and academic views; and clearly oppose and resist erroneous views of all kinds. 

2. Adhere to the cultural construction system led by core socialist values. Promote the regularization and institutionalization of education in ideals and beliefs, and carry forward the spirit of the nation and the spirit of the times. Strengthen education on the history of the Party, new China, and reform and opening up; strengthen education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism; implement the program for building civic morality; and promote the construction of New Era Civilization Practice Centers. Adhere to the combination of ruling the country according to law and ruling by morality, refine the system of laws and policies for promoting core socialist values, and incorporate the requirements of core socialist values in rule of law construction and social governance so that they are reflected throughout the process of national education, spiritual civilization creation, and cultural product creation and production. Promote projects for the inheritance and development of China’s excellent traditional culture. Refine mechanisms for joint regulation and management of youth education in ideals and beliefs. Improve the volunteer service system. Refine long-term mechanisms for building integrity, improve the credit system covering the entire society, and strengthen disciplinary punishment for breach of trust.  

3. Improve the system for protecting the people’s cultural rights and interests. Adhere to a people-centered work orientation; refine guidance and incentive mechanisms for the creation, production, and dissemination of cultural products; and introduce more popular cultural works. Refine the rural-urban public cultural services system, optimize the allocation of rural-urban cultural resources, promote the expanded coverage and enhanced effectiveness of grassroots cultural projects, improve mechanisms supporting the development of mass cultural activities, and encourage social forces to participate in constructing the public cultural services system. 

4. Improve the work mechanism to adhere to the correct orientation of public opinion guidance. Adhere to the principle of Party-controlled media, and adhere to united and steady encouragement and positive propaganda, boldly singing the main themes and bringing positive energy. Build a mainstream public opinion pattern with online-offline integration, internal and external propaganda, and establish a media-wide communication system with content creation as the root, advanced technology for support, and innovative management as assurance. Improve and innovate positive propaganda, refine the system of public opinion supervision, and improve mechanisms for guiding public opinion on emergencies and major matters of public sentiment. Establish and improve the comprehensive network governance system, strengthen and innovate online content creation, and put into practice internet enterprises being the main entities responsible for information management so as to comprehensive boost network governance capacity and create a clear online space. 

5. Establish and improve systems and mechanisms for cultural creation and production that give priority to social benefits and unify social benefits and economic benefits. Deepen reform of the cultural system, accelerate refinement of cultural management systems and production and business operation mechanisms that follow the laws of development of advanced socialist culture, reflect the requirements of the socialist market economy, and help stimulate cultural innovation and creativity. Improve the modern cultural industry system and market system, and refine cultural and economic policies oriented toward high-quality development. Refine systems for cultural enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities, and improve mechanisms for guiding the healthy development of new cultural industries. Refine systems and mechanisms for the integrated development of culture and tourism. Strengthen the guidance of literary and artistic creation, and improve work mechanisms for advocating taste, style, and responsibility and resisting what is vulgar, low-brow, and in poor taste. 

Adhering to and refining the system for overall planning of urban and rural livelihood protection, and meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for good life

Enhancing the people’s well-being and all-round development, and promoting people’s all-round development, is the essential requirement of our party’s “building the Party for the public and governing for the people.” We must improve the national system of basic public services in the areas of education for children, teaching for all learners, compensation for workers, healthcare for the sick, care for the elderly, housing for residents, and support for the vulnerable. We must do the best we can and as much as we can and focus on strengthening the universal, basic, and bottom-up construction of people’s livelihood so as to protect the basic livelihood of the masses. Innovate in public service provision, encourage support for social forces to run public welfare undertakings, satisfy the people’s demands for multi-level diversification, and make the fruits of reform and development more and more equitable and beneficial to all the people. 

1. Improve mechanisms that help promote fuller and higher quality employment. Adhere to employment as the foundation of people’s livelihood, implement the policy of giving priority to employment, and create more jobs. Improve systems for public employment services and lifelong vocational skills training, and refine the employment support system for key groups. Establish mechanisms to promote entrepreneurship-driven employment and flexible employment through multiple channels, and provide basic support for people facing employment difficulties. Resolutely prevent and correct employment discrimination, and create a fair employment system environment. Improve mechanisms for coordinating labor relations, build harmonious labor relations, and promote the achievement of decent work and comprehensive development for the majority of workers. 

2. Build an education system that serves lifelong learning for all. Implement the Party’s education policy across the board; adhere to the priority development of education; focus on delivering good education to the satisfaction of the people; refine systems and mechanisms for moral education; deepen comprehensive reform in the field of education; strengthen the construction of teachers’ ethics and style; and train builders and successors of socialism with comprehensive moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor development. Promote the integrated development of compulsory education in rural and urban areas; improve assurance mechanisms for preschool education, special education, and universal high school education; and refine mechanisms for the overall coordinated development of vocational and technical education, higher education, and continuing education. Support and standardize private education and cooperative school operation. Build a system for family education guidance services covering urban and rural areas. Take full advantage of online education and AI; innovate education and learning methods; and accelerate the development of an education system that is directed toward everyone, suitable for everyone, and more open and flexible so as to construct a learning-oriented society. 

3. Refine the social security system covering all people. Adhere to the principle of insuring as much as possible what should be insured, improve the basic pension insurance and basic medical insurance systems so they integrate rural and urban areas and are sustainable, and steadily raise the level of assurance. Accelerate establishment of the national coordination system for basic pension insurance. Accelerate implementation of systems for social security transfer and continuation and for settlement of medical expenses incurred away from home, standardize the management of social security funds, and develop commercial insurance. Coordinate and refine systems for social assistance, social welfare, philanthropy, and preferential treatment and resettlement. Improve employment and support systems for veterans. Adhere to and refine institutional mechanisms for promoting gender equality and the comprehensive development of women. Refine the care and service system for children, women, and elderly people left behind in rural communities, and improve systems for assisting disabled people. Resolutely win the battle against poverty, consolidate poverty alleviation accomplishments, and establish a long-term, effective mechanism for addressing relative poverty. Accelerate the establishment of a housing system characterized by multiple suppliers, multi-channel security, and both renting and purchasing. 

4. Strengthen institutional security to improve the health of the people. Adhere to focusing on the whole cycle of life and the entire health process, refine national health policies, and let the general public enjoy systematic and continuous health services that are fair and accessible. Deepen medical and health system reform, improve the basic medical and health system, improve public health services, medical services, medical security, and the drug supply security level. Accelerate reform of the modern hospital management system. Adhere to focusing on the grassroots, being prevention-oriented, combining prevention and treatment, and putting equal emphasis on Chinese and Western medicine. Strengthen public health and epidemic prevention and the control of major infectious diseases, and improve the medical insurance and assistance system for catastrophic illness. Optimize fertility policy and raise the quality of the population. Actively respond to the aging of the population, accelerate the construction of an elderly care service system with coordinated home-based community institutions, and combine medical care with wellness. Focus on building up the physical fitness of the people, and improve institutional measures for promoting national fitness. 

Adhering to and refining the social governance system based on joint contribution and governance and share benefits, and maintaining social stability and national security

Social governance is an important aspect of national governance. We must strengthen and innovate in social governance, and refine social governance system characterized by party leadership, government responsibility, democratic consultation, social coordination, public participation, the rule of law, and S&T support; build a community of social governance in which everyone has responsibilities, everyone fulfills those responsibilities, and everyone shares in the benefits; ensure that people live in peace and enjoy their work and that the society is stable and orderly; and build a higher-level peaceful China. 

1. Refine effective mechanisms for correctly handling internal conflicts among the people under the new circumstances. Adhere to and develop the “Fengqiao experience” for the new era, and unblock and regulate channels for the masses to express their demands, coordinate their interests, and protect their rights and interests; refine the petitioning system; refine the work system for connecting people’s mediation, administrative mediation and judicial mediation; improve the social psychological services system and crisis intervention mechanisms; refine comprehensive mechanisms for the prevention, mediation, and resolution of social conflicts and disputes; and strive to resolve contradictions at the grassroots level. 

2. Refine the public security, prevention, and control system. Adhere to the combination of professionals and the masses, and mass prevention and control, and raise the three-dimensionality, rule of law orientation, professionalism, and intelligence level of public security; form working mechanisms for jointly handling problems, coordinating efforts, and maintaining safety; improve the ability to predict and prevent all kinds of risks; and enhance the integrity, synergism, and accuracy of public security prevention and control. 

3. Improve public security systems and mechanisms. Refine and implement the responsibility and management systems for production safety, and establish a system for the investigation of hidden public security dangers and security-oriented prevention and control. Build an emergency management system that has unified command and reserves of both specialized and regular people, responds quickly, and is upwardly and downwardly linked; optimize construction of the national emergency management capacity system; and improve disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief abilities. Strengthen and improve the food and drug safety regulatory system to protect the people’s physical health and safety. 

4. Create a new pattern of grassroots social governance. Refine the institutionalized channels for mass participation in grassroots social governance. Improve the Party-led system of rural-urban grassroots governance combining self-governance, rule of law, and moral governance; improve community management and service mechanisms; implement grid-based management and services; and give full play to the roles groups and social organizations and the self-regulatory function of industry associations and chambers of commerce so as to achieve positive interaction between the government’s governance and social regulation on one hand and the self-governance of residents on the other. Strengthen the foundation of grassroots social governance. Accelerate the modernization of urban social governance. Promote shifting the center of gravity in social governance and services toward the grassroots level, devolve more resources to the grassroots level, and better provide accurate and refined services. Focus on utilizing the important role that families, family education, and family traditions play in grassroots social governance. Strengthen the governance of the border, and promote border area revitalization and the prosperity of residents. 

5. Refine the national security system. Adhere to the overall national security concept; integrate development and security; adhere to the organic unity of people’s security, political security, and the supremacy of national interests. Take people’s security as the purpose, political security as fundamental, and economic security as the basis, with military, S&T, cultural, and public security as assurance; improve the national security system; and enhance national security capabilities. Refine the centralized and unified, efficient, and authoritative national security leadership system, and improve the national security legal system. Strengthen construction of the people’s defense line in national security; reinforce the national security awareness of the whole population; and establish and improve mechanisms for the study and identification, coordinated prevention and control, and prevention and defusing of national security risks. Improve the ability to prevent and resist national security risks, and be on high alert against, resolutely prevent, and severely crack down on the infiltration, sabotage, subversion, and separatist activities of hostile forces. 

Adhering to and refining systems for ecological civilization, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature

Ecological civilization construction is a millennium plan concerning the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. We must put into practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are precious assets; adhere to the basic national policy of resource conservation and environmental protection; adhere to the policy of giving priority to conservation, protection, and nature restoration; and steadily follow the development path of civilization with increasing output, higher living standards, and healthy ecosystems, thereby building a beautiful China. 

1. Implement systems for the strictest ecological environmental protection. Adhere to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature; insist on respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature; and improve the ecological and environmental protection system featuring prevention at the source, process control, compensation for damage, and accountability. Accelerate the establishment and improvement of a coordination and control system for spatial planning and use of national land, coordinated delineation and implementation of ecological protection red lines, permanent basic agricultural land, urban development boundaries and other spatial control boundaries, and various types of marine protection lines, and improve the major functional zones system. Refine the green production and consumption legal system and policy orientation, develop green finance, promote market-oriented green technological innovation, and more consciously promote green recycling and low-carbon development. Build the institutional system for supervision of stationary pollution sources, with the sewage permit system as the core, and refine regional linkage mechanisms for pollution prevention and control as well as the ecological and environmental governance system featuring land-sea coordination. Strengthen the prevention and control of environmental pollution in agriculture and rural areas. Refine the legal system and law enforcement judicial system for ecological and environmental protection. 

2. Comprehensively establish systems for the efficient use of resources. Promote making the unified confirmation and registration of natural resource rights more law-based, regulated, standardized, and informatized; improve the natural resource property rights system; put into practice the system of paid use of resources; and implement a system of total resource management and comprehensive conservation. Improve the policy system for the conservation, intensive use, and recycling of resources. Universally implement waste classification and resource recovery systems. Promote the energy revolution and build a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system. Improve marine resource development and protection systems. Accelerate the establishment of a system for the unified surveying, evaluation, and monitoring of natural resources, and improve the natural resource supervision system. 

3. Improve the ecological protection and restoration system. Coordinate the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, water, forests, fields, lakes, and grasslands, and strengthen the ecological protection of forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes, wetlands, oceans, etc. Strengthen the protection and sustainable use of important ecosystems, build a nature reserve system with national parks as the main element, and improve the national park protection system. Strengthen the ecological protection and systematic management of Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and other large rivers. Carry out large-scale land greening programs, accelerate the comprehensive management of soil erosion and desertification and the spread of karst rocky desertification protect biodiversity, and fortify ecological security barriers. Completely ban reclamation except for major national projects.  

4. Strictly apply the responsibility system to ecological and environmental protection. Establish an evaluation and assessment system for ecological civilization construction goals; strengthen the management of binding indicators for environmental protection, natural resource management and control, energy conservation and emission reduction, etc.; and strictly implement the primary responsibility of enterprises and the supervisory responsibility of government. Carry out exit audits of leading cadres with respect to natural resource assets. Promote comprehensive administrative enforcement of ecological and environmental protection, and implement the central inspection system for ecological and environmental protection. Improve the ecological and environmental monitoring and evaluation system, refine the system of ecological and environmental public interest litigation, implement the system of ecological compensation and compensation for ecological and environmental damage, and carry out the lifelong accountability system for ecological environmental damage. 

Adhering to and refining the absolute leadership of the Party over the people’s army, and ensuring that the people’s army faithfully performs its mission and tasks in the new era

The people’s army is a strong pillar of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the absolute leadership of the Party over the people’s army is the foundation of the people’s army and the soul of our strong army. We must securely establish the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military in national defense and military construction, consolidate and expand achievements in deepening national defense and military reform, build a system of military policies and institutions based on socialism with Chinese characteristics, and comprehensively promote national defense and military modernization so as to ensure achievement of the Party’s goal of building a strong military in the new era, build the people’s army into a world-class army, and retain forever the nature, purpose, and distinctive character of the people’s army. 

1. Adhere to the Party Central Committee’s supreme leadership and command of the people’s army. The system in which the chairman of Central Military Commission has overall responsibility for the commission is the fundamental form of the Party’s absolute leadership of the people’s army. Adhere to all of the armed forces of the country being under the unified leadership and command of the chairman of the Central Military Commission, refine systems and mechanisms for implementing the responsibility system of the chairman of the Central Military Commission, and strictly implement all of the responsibility system’s institutional provisions. Practice strict political discipline and political rules, and resolutely uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, ensuring the unimpeded flow of political and military orders. 

2. Improve the party-building system of the people’s army. Comprehensively implement all the requirements of political-military construction; emphasize cultivating the soul of the army; carry forward its fine traditions; pass on the red gene; and resolutely resist erroneous political views such as “making the army non-party, non-politicized” and “nationalization of the army.” Adhere to the party committee system, the political commissar system, and the political organ system; adhere to the system of the division of labor and responsibility among commanding officers under the unified collective leadership of the party committee; adhere to establishing Party branches within companies of the military; and refine Party leadership of the army’s organizational system. Build a powerful party organization and a contingent of high-quality professional cadres, and ensure that the barrel of the gun is always grasped in the hands of reliable people loyal to the Party. 

3. Implement the absolute leadership of the Party over the people’s army throughout the process, and in all areas, of army construction. Implement the Military Strategic Guidelines for a New Era; adhere to the fundamental standards of combat effectiveness; establish and improve policies and institutional systems for the use of military forces based on joint action and integration of peacetime and wartime; build the military strategy system for the new era; strengthen construction of the joint warfare command system and capacity; adjust and improve the combat readiness system; improve the combat-oriented military training system; and effectively shape situations, control crises, contain wars, and win wars. Adhere to having combat capability guide construction and making sure construction is for combat capability; establish and improve military forces construction policies and institutional systems that focus on fighting wars, stimulate innovation, and integrate military and civilian forces; coordinate the construction of the People’s Liberation Army’s active-duty forces and reserve forces, armed police forces, and people’s militia; coordinate the institutional arrangements for all types of military personnel; deepen reform of the officer professionalization system, civilian personnel system, and military service system; and promote the formation of a modern combat capability generation model so as to build a modern armed forces system. Establish and improve the policy and institutional system for precise and efficient, comprehensively regulated, and rigidly constrained military management; enhance the strategic management function of the Central Military Commission; strengthen construction of the military rule of law system with Chinese characteristics; and improve the operational efficiency of the military system. Accelerate the development of in-depth military-civilian fusion, and build an integrated national strategic system and capabilities. Refine systems for national defense S&T innovation and weapons and equipment construction. Deepen reform of the national defense mobilization system. Strengthen national defense education for all. Improve the working mechanisms for combining the forces of the Party, government, military, police and people in order to strengthen borders and defenses. Refine mechanisms for double support work and military-civilian joint construction, and strengthen military unity. 

Adhering to and refining institutional systems for “one country, two systems,” and promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland

“One country, two systems” is an important system for the Party to lead the people in achieving the peaceful reunification of the motherland, and is a great innovation of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must insist that “one country” is the premise and basis for implementing the “two systems,” and that the “two systems” are subordinate to and derived from “one country” and are unified within “one country.” Govern the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions (SARs) in strict in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law; firmly defend the nation’s sovereignty, security, and development interests; maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao; and tolerate no acts that challenge the bottom line of “one country, two systems” nor any acts of secession. 

1. Fully and accurately implement the “one country, two systems,” “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong,” “Macao people ruling Macao,” and high degree of autonomy policies. Adhere to the rule of law in Hong Kong and Macao, defend the constitutional order established by the Constitution and the Basic Law, adhere to the principle of “one country” and respect the differences of the “two systems,” uphold the full authority of the central authorities over the SARs and assure them a high degree of autonomy, fully exploit the strong backing role of the Chinese mainland, and boost the SARs’ own competitiveness. Refine the systems and mechanisms of the SARs related to the implementation of the Constitution and the Basic Law, adhere to “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong” and “Macao people ruling Macao” with patriots as the mainstay, and improve the ability and level of the SARs with respect to governance in accordance with the law. 

2. Improve systems for the central authorities to exercise comprehensive jurisdiction over the SARs in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law. Refine the system and mechanisms for the appointment and removal of the chief executive and principal officials of the SARs by the central authorities and the system of interpreting the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and exercise in accordance with law the powers vested in the central authorities by the Constitution and the Basic Law. Establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for maintaining national security in the SARs, and support the SARs in strengthening their law enforcement forces. Improve the system under which the chief executives of the SARs are accountable to the central government, and support the chief executives and the governments of the SARs in governing in accordance with law. Refine mechanisms for Hong Kong and Macao to integrate into the overall development of the country, complement their strengths with those of the mainland, and develop synergistically with it; promote construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and support Hong Kong and Macao in developing their economies and improving people’s livelihood; and strive to resolve the deep-rooted contradictions and problems that affect social stability and long-term development. Strengthen education on the Constitution and the Basic Law, national conditions, Chinese history, and Chinese culture for Hong Kong and Macau societies, especially for public officials and young people, and bolster the national consciousness and patriotic spirit of Hong Kong and Macau compatriots. Resolutely prevent and deter external forces from interfering in the affairs of Hong Kong and Macao and carrying out separatist, subversive, infiltrative, or destructive activities so as to ensure the long-term stability of Hong Kong and Macao. 

3. Firmly promote progress in the peaceful reunification of the motherland. Resolving the Taiwan issue and achieving the complete reunification of the motherland is the common aspiration of all Chinese people and is a fundamental interest of the Chinese nation. Promote reaching of cross-strait institutional arrangements on peaceful development. Improve institutional arrangements and policy measures to promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, deepen cross-strait integrated development, and safeguard the welfare of Taiwan compatriots. Unite Taiwan compatriots to oppose “Taiwan independence” and promote reunification. On the precondition of ensuring the nation’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, the social system and way of life of Taiwan compatriots will be fully respected after peaceful reunification, and the private property, religious beliefs, and legitimate rights and interests of Taiwan compatriots will receive full protection. 

Adhering to and refining the independent foreign policy of peace, and promoting the building of a community of human destiny

Promoting the development of the Party and the state requires a peaceful international environment and favorable external conditions. We must coordinate the two major situations—domestic and international, hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and win-win solutions; unswervingly defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests; and unswervingly defend world peace and promote common development. 

1. Improve systems and mechanisms for the Party’s leadership of foreign affairs work. Adhere to diplomatic power resting in the Party Central Committee, strengthen construction of the theory of great power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, and fully implement the major diplomatic policies and strategic deployments of the Party Central Committee. Deeply promote construction of foreign-related systems and mechanisms; coordinate the external relations of the Party, the NPC, the government, the CPPCC, the military, local governments, people’s groups, etc.; and strengthen the great synergistic pattern wherein the Party has the overarching vision and coordinates the external work of all parties. Strengthen foreign-related rule of law work, establish a legal system for foreign-related work, strengthen the study and application of international law, and improve the rule of law basis of foreign-related work. 

2. Refine the overall diplomatic layout. Unswervingly follow the road of peaceful development; adhere to the comprehensive development of friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence; adhere to the equality of all countries regardless of size, strength, or wealth; promote construction of a new type of international relations of mutual respect, fairness and justice, cooperation, and win-win outcomes; actively develop global partnerships; maintain global strategic stability; and oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics. Adhere to resolving international disputes and hot-button difficult issues through dialogue and consultation and by peaceful means, and oppose the use or threat of force at every turn. Adhere to pursuing a defensive national defense policy, never seek hegemony, never engage in expansion, and always be a staunch force for the maintenance of world peace. 

3. Promote the construction of an open system of cooperation and win-win outcomes. Adhere to the mutually beneficial and win-win strategy of opening up, promote high-quality “Belt and Road” development, uphold and refine the multilateral trading system, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, promote the construction of a global network of high-standard free trade zones, support developing countries increasing their independent development capacity, push to resolve the problems of global development imbalances and the digital divide, and promote the construction of an open world economy. Improve the security system for opening up to the outside. Build the overseas interests protection, risk warning and prevention system, refine mechanisms for consular protection work, defend the safety and legitimate rights and interests of compatriots overseas, and assure the safety of major projects and personnel institutions. 

4. Actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system. Hold high the banner of building a community of human destiny; uphold the concept of global governance based on mutual consultation, joint construction, and sharing; advocate multilateralism and the democratization of international relations; and promote the reform of global economic governance mechanisms. Promote international cooperation to address climate change based on the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities, and respective ability. Defend the core position of the United Nations in global governance; support the institutionalization of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, G20, and other platforms; and promote the building of a more just and rational international governance system. 

Adhering to and refining the Party and state supervision system, and strengthening constraints on, and supervision of, the exercise of power

The Party and state supervision system provide important institutional assurance for the Party to achieve self-cleansing, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-improvement under conditions of long-term rule. We must improve systems for the Party’s unified leadership, comprehensive coverage, and authoritative and efficient supervision; enhance the seriousness, synergism, and effectiveness of supervision; and form mechanisms for the exercising power that feature scientific decisionmaking, resolute implementation, and strong supervision so as to ensure that the power bestowed by the Party and the people is always used for the well-being of the people. 

1. Improve the Party and state supervision systems. Refine the Party’s internal supervision system, put into effect the supervision responsibilities of Party organizations at all levels, and assure the supervisory rights of Party members. Emphasize strengthening the supervision of senior cadres and major leading cadres at all levels, refine the internal supervision systems of leadership teams, and solve the difficult problems of peer supervision and supervising those who are “first in command.” Fortify political supervision; strengthen supervision and inspection regarding the implementation circumstances of the Party’s theories, lines, principles, and policies, as well its major decisions and deployments; and refine the system for reporting on inspection tours and rectification, and on supervision implementation circumstances. Deepen reform of the discipline inspection and supervision system, strengthen the leadership of higher-level discipline inspection and supervision committees over lower-level discipline inspection and supervision committees, and promote standardization the rule of law in discipline inspection and supervision work. Refine the dispatched supervision system and mechanisms. Promote coordination and linkage of discipline supervision, inspection supervision, and inspection tour-based and stationed supervision; improve systems for supervision by the NPC, democratic supervision, administrative supervision, judicial supervision, supervision by the masses, and public opinion supervision; and fully utilize the roles played by audit supervision and statistical supervision. Promote the organic combination and coordination of various types of supervision, taking inner-party supervision as the main one. 

2. Refine mechanisms to constrain the distribution and exercise of power. Adhere to the principle that powers and responsibilities are determined by laws; improve the system of dividing powers according to different matters, establishing powers according to different positions, delegating authority according to levels, and regular rotation of positions; and clarify boundaries of powers, standardize workflows, and strengthen constraints on power. Adhere to the principle of transparent powers and responsibilities; promote the open exercise of power; refine systems for the open handling of Party affairs, government affairs, and justice affairs and affairs in other areas; and establish feedback mechanisms making the exercise of power searchable and traceable. Adhere to the unity of powers and responsibilities, keep an eye on all aspects of the exercise of power; refine effective mechanisms for detecting problems, correcting deviations, and accurately pursuing accountability; and reduce the space for rent-seeking based on power. 

3. Build integrated system and mechanisms to promote “fearing to be corrupt, unable to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt.” Unswervingly advance the struggle against corruption, resolutely investigate and deal with cases of corruption where political and economic issues are intertwined, resolutely cut off the chain of interests those who “hunt” and those willing to be “hunted,” and firmly eradicate relationship networks for power-and-money transactions. Deepen the approach of treating both the symptoms and root causes; promote supervision mechanism reform and system construction in key areas such as approval and supervision, law enforcement and justice, engineering and construction, resource development, finance and credit, public resource transactions, and government expenditures; promote national legislation against corruption and facilitate international cooperation against corruption; and strengthen education on ideology, morality, and Party discipline and law, thereby consolidating and developing an overwhelming victory in the fight against corruption. 

Strengthening the Party’s leadership of adhering to and refining the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and advancing the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity

Adhering to and refining the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity is a major strategic task for the whole party. It must be carried out under the unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, with scientific planning and careful organization, combining near and long-term targets and given overall promotion so as to ensure the full implementation of the objectives and tasks set by this plenum. 

The vitality of the system lies in its implementation. Party committees and governments at all levels and leading cadres at all levels must effectively strengthen their system awareness, take the lead in upholding the authority of the system, and set an example in system implementation, thereby getting the whole Party and society to consciously respect the system, strictly implement the system, and resolutely maintain the system. Improve authoritative and efficient system implementation mechanisms, strengthen supervision of system implementation, and resolutely put an end to the phenomenon of making unprincipled choices, modifications and compromises. 

Strengthen institutional theory research, as well as propaganda and education, and guide the whole Party and society to fully understand the essential characteristics and superiority of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics so as to strengthen confidence in the system. Educate and guide cadres and the masses to realize that the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and the national governance system have been tested in practice for a long time, they are hard-won, and they must be cherished; in refining and developing our national system and governance system, we must adhere to the principle of starting from national conditions and the present situation, grasp the historical heritage formed over a long period, as well as the path taken by the Party and the people in building our national system and national governance, the experience accumulated, and the principles formed. We cannot copy or reproduce the institutional models of other countries; neither taking the old path of closure and rigidity nor taking the evil path of changing banners, but unswervingly taking the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 

Make improving governance capacity a major task of cadre team construction in the new era. Strengthen ideological, political, practical, and professional training; press the broad ranks of cadres to perform their duties, exercise power, and carry out their work in strict accordance with the system; and improve abilities and levels in promoting the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan’s overall layout and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy’s strategic layout, and other tasks. Adhere to the principle of the Party being in charge of cadres, implement standards for good cadres, establish the correct orientation for making use of people, and make system execution ability and governance ability an important basis for the selection and appointment of cadres, as well as for their assessment and evaluation. Respect knowledge and respect talent, accelerate innovation in talent systems and policies, and support all kinds of talents in contributing their wisdom and strength to promoting modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. 

To push the comprehensive deepening of reform forward, we must maintain the stability and continuity of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the national governance system, and also firmly grasp the formulation of systems urgently needed for the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, as well as systems necessary for meeting the people’s new expectations for a better life. And we must push the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics to constantly improve and develop itself, and perpetuate its vitality and energy. 

The whole Party and people of all nationalities must unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core; they should be firmly confident, remain determined, forge ahead, pioneer, and innovate, and fight hard in order to adhere to and refine the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, advance the modernization of China’s governance system and governance capacity, achieve the “Two Centennial” objectives, and realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!