The comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country embodies the long-cherished aspirations and expectations of the Chinese nation, and reflects the hard work and sweat of the Chinese people. From October 20 to 23, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. The session reviewed the "Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development," outlining a blueprint for China's development over the next five years and promoting major breakthroughs in strategic tasks crucial to the overall advancement of Chinese-style modernization. The Communist Party of China has consistently regarded the building of a modern socialist country as its unswerving goal, continuously providing guidance and rallying strength to advance the process of Chinese-style modernization. Volume V of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" is permeated throughout by the central theme of advancing Chinese-style modernization. In his speech "Upholding the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Striving Together for the Comprehensive Construction of a Modern Socialist Country," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The key to comprehensively building a modern socialist country and fully advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation lies in the Party." In "Fully Advancing the Great Cause of Building a Strong Country and National Rejuvenation through Chinese-style Modernization," he emphasized: "The leadership of the Party is directly related to the fundamental direction, future prospects, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese-style modernization." And in "Improving the Comprehensive System of Strict Party Governance and Promoting the New Great Project of Party Building in the New Era to Greater Depth," he stated: "Treat Party building as a great project and always adhere to the principles and policies of governing the Party strictly and managing it with rigor—this is a major innovation of our Party and also a vital treasure for establishing and strengthening the Party and the country." And so forth. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks profoundly reveal that a strong country must be premised on and guaranteed by a strong Party, while a strong Party must take a strong country as its goal and support; these remarks greatly enrich Marxist theory on political parties and provide fundamental guidance for the Party’s leadership in building a modern socialist country.

Tracing the Roots: Why has the Communist Party of China been able to lead the Chinese people in building a modern socialist country?

Modernization is the historical process by which traditional societies transition to modern ones, and it represents an inevitable path for the development of human society and the advancement of civilization. In his speech “Walking Together on the Path of Modernization,” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “As the leading and driving force behind the modernization endeavor, a political party’s values, leadership capabilities, governance skills, spiritual outlook, and willpower directly determine the future and destiny of a nation’s modernization.” The Communist Party of China has always regarded the realization of modernization as its enduring historical aspiration and unwavering goal. It has united and led the Chinese people in forging a path of modernization with Chinese characteristics, presenting a new vision that differs from Western-style modernization and creating a new miracle in the history of human modernization.

The nature and purpose of the Party, its original aspiration and mission, its faith and convictions, and its policy propositions all determine that the Communist Party of China is the highest political force leading Chinese-style modernization. The goals and aspirations of our Party, the state, and the people are aligned; the intrinsic logic and value orientation of strengthening the Party and building a strong country are consistent. In the course of Chinese-style modernization, the Communist Party of China should and must become the core force leading the nation’s modernization drive. Guided by scientific theory, our Party has united and led all ethnic groups across the country in providing scientifically grounded answers—both theoretically, practically, and institutionally—to fundamental questions about modernization: “What kind of modernization do we need?” and “How can we achieve modernization?” As a result, we have successfully identified Chinese-style modernization as the only correct path for building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation. Throughout this process, our Party has deeply integrated its essential nature, distinctive characteristics, and noble qualities into Chinese-style modernization, transforming the Party’s unique advantages into developmental strengths for modernization. Thus, we have explored, advanced, and expanded modernization, fundamentally reshaping its direction, future, and destiny.

Chinese-style modernization is a major achievement that our Party has attained—after enduring countless hardships and paying a tremendous price—through long-term exploration and practice under the leadership of the Party and with the concerted efforts of all ethnic groups across the country. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Party led the people in exploring a path to national independence and people’s liberation, thereby creating the fundamental social conditions necessary for achieving modernization. In the period of socialist revolution and construction, our Party united and led the people in carrying out the socialist revolution, laying down the fundamental political prerequisites, valuable experiences, theoretical preparations, and material foundations for the cause of socialist modernization. In the new era of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our Party made the historic decision to shift the focus of the Party and the state’s work to economic development and to implement reform and opening up. We vigorously promoted theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, cultural innovation, and innovation in all other fields based on practical experience, thus providing Chinese-style modernization with institutional guarantees brimming with fresh vitality and material conditions for rapid development. As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, our Party continues to move forward on the basis of previous achievements, constantly achieving innovative breakthroughs in both theory and practice, successfully advancing and expanding Chinese-style modernization, and writing a new chapter in comprehensively promoting the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization. We have further deepened our understanding of the connotations and essence of Chinese-style modernization, summarized and formulated its distinctive Chinese features, essential requirements, and major principles, making Chinese-style modernization clearer, more scientific, and more tangible and feasible. It is precisely under the leadership of the Communist Party of China that the Chinese people have embarked on a path of modernization suited to their own conditions. In a certain sense, the history of our Party over the past century and more is also a history of pursuing modernization goals, exploring paths to modernization, and building a modernized nation.

The Party’s leadership is directly linked to the fundamental direction, future prospects, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese-style modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “To do well in China’s affairs, the key lies in the Party.” The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. Chinese-style modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China, and upholding the Party’s leadership is one of the essential requirements of Chinese-style modernization. Our Party not only has 100.271 million members but has also established a comprehensive organizational system that extends horizontally across all sectors—from the central government to local authorities, from cities to rural areas, and from traditional industries to emerging fields—and vertically from top to bottom. We not only have a strong cadre corps capable of driving reform, development, and stability, as well as managing domestic affairs, foreign relations, national defense, Party governance, state governance, and military governance, but we have also accumulated an exceptionally rich body of experience in governing the country. We have not only created two unprecedented miracles—the rapid economic growth and long-term social stability—but we have also found the right path toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Practice has proven that the path of Chinese-style modernization pioneered under the leadership of our Party is rooted in China’s outstanding traditional culture, embodies the advanced essence of scientific socialism, draws on and absorbs all the outstanding achievements of human civilization, and represents the forward direction of human civilizational progress. It has shattered the myth that “modernization equals Westernization” and constitutes a brand-new exploration that transcends both past capitalist and socialist paths of modernization.

Grounded in the present: What are the major risks and challenges facing the Party as it embarks on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country?

Modernization is a continuous journey of scaling new heights—each step forward brings heavier tasks, greater challenges, and ever-greater difficulties. In his speech “Upholding the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Striving Together to Fully Build a Modern Socialist Country,” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Fully building a modern socialist country is a great and arduous undertaking—with a bright future yet a long and winding road ahead.” In his address “Always Remaining Clearheaded and Firm in Tackling the Unique Difficulties Facing a Large Party,” he further noted: “To govern for a long time in the world’s most populous country—a nation with a long history, a huge population, and an enormous scale—while possessing tremendous advantages in accomplishing great things and building monumental achievements, also presents us with special challenges in governing both the Party and the country.” Studying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks, we believe that on our path forward, we will face at least five major challenges.

The challenges posed by the unprecedented global transformation unfolding over the past century. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Today’s world is undergoing a transformation of a magnitude unseen in a century. This profound transformation is not merely a fleeting change affecting one event, one region, or one country; rather, it is a transformation of the world itself, of our times, and of history.” At present, Cold War mentality and bloc politics are making a resurgence, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, economic globalization is facing headwinds, and deficits in peace, development, security, and governance continue to grow. The unprecedented global transformation is accelerating, with frequent localized conflicts and turbulence, and global issues intensifying. The world has entered a new period of profound upheaval and transformation. External risks and challenges remain ever-present and are becoming increasingly prominent. If these challenges are mishandled, they could slow down or even disrupt the process of China’s modernization. This poses a tremendous test for us—how we can steadfastly uphold the Party’s leadership, stay true to our original aspirations and mission, ensure that our Party never loses its nature, its color, or its flavor, preserve the socialist character of our country, and keep the pace of China’s modernization from being interrupted.

The challenge of pursuing high-quality development—the Party’s primary task. In his speech, “Upholding the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Striving Together to Fully Build a Modern Socialist Country,” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “High-quality development is the Party’s primary task in fully building a modern socialist country. Development is the Party’s top priority for governing and rejuvenating the nation. Without a solid material and technological foundation, it is simply impossible to fully build a strong, modern socialist country.” High-quality development is crucial to the overall cause of China’s socialist modernization and represents a comprehensive requirement that permeates all aspects of economic and social development. However, at present, a small number of Party members and cadres still lack sufficient capacity and sense of responsibility in promoting high-quality development. Problems such as acting recklessly, failing to act at all, being unwilling to take action, and lacking the necessary skills have become significant obstacles hindering high-quality development. For example, some individuals fail to recognize the importance of high-quality development and, whenever faced with difficulties, revert to the old path of extensive expansion and inefficient growth; others have few effective solutions and merely “put new wine into old bottles”; and still others lack the necessary courage and are afraid of risks and responsibilities. These issues pose serious challenges to our efforts to further enhance the ability of Party members and cadres to promote high-quality development, protect their enthusiasm for work and entrepreneurship, boost their vitality, and ensure that the cadre ranks always maintain a vigorous and upward-looking spirit.

The challenge posed by the internet—the greatest of all variables. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must scientifically understand the rules governing online communication, enhance our ability to govern and harness the internet, and turn this greatest of variables into the greatest driver of our cause’s development.” If we fail to master the internet, we will fail to secure long-term governance. Today, information technologies—represented by the internet and artificial intelligence—are advancing at an unprecedented pace, profoundly transforming social production, human life, and national governance. Information technology is a “double-edged sword”: while it serves as an important vehicle for spreading positive energy, it can also become a platform for disseminating harmful information and sowing ideological chaos. The internet is increasingly becoming the primary battleground, the main front, and the cutting edge of ideological struggle, where various ideologies, cultures, and diverse value systems are fiercely clashing in cyberspace. These new developments pose serious challenges to our Party in enhancing our capacity to govern and harness the internet, as well as in upholding and consolidating Marxism’s guiding role in the ideological sphere.

The greatest danger facing the Party is its potential to become detached from the masses. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The Party’s greatest political advantage lies in maintaining close ties with the people; the greatest danger after the Party assumes power is becoming detached from the masses.” Under conditions of long-term governance, some Party members and cadres are prone to developing formalism, bureaucratic practices, hedonism, and extravagance, leading to a situation where they drift away from the masses in their thinking, behavior, work, daily life, and style of work. A small number of leading cadres have developed distorted views on performance, eagerly pursuing “achievements” and “image projects” that are visible only within their immediate sphere of influence, showing little concern about whether the masses are dissatisfied—as long as their superiors don’t notice. They create “temporary achievements” that leave behind “long-term burdens.” If these problems fail to be effectively addressed, they will inevitably damage the Party’s image and credibility, undermine the Party’s flesh-and-blood bond with the people, and seriously weaken the mass foundation upon which the Party’s rule rests.

The challenge posed by corruption—the greatest threat. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “As the ruling party, our Party faces corruption as its greatest threat.” Thanks to the relentless and vigorous anti-corruption efforts undertaken since the advent of the new era, the fight against corruption has achieved an overwhelming victory and been comprehensively consolidated. However, the situation remains grave and complex: the stock of existing corruption has yet to be fully eliminated, and new cases continue to emerge. In particular, certain corrupt practices have become more hidden and sophisticated, undergoing subtle transformations and upgrades. These phenomena are characterized by the concealment of corrupt actors, the non-ownership of benefits by those involved, the civilizational shift toward quid pro quo transactions, the marketization of benefit transfers, and the virtualization of bribe objects—features that pose even greater difficulties in investigation and identification. We must, with the steadfastness and determination to remain on the road forever, focus on eradicating the very soil and conditions that give rise to corruption. By doing so, we can gradually reduce the recurrence of long-standing problems and make it increasingly difficult for newly emerging issues to spread, thus promoting the normalization and long-term effectiveness of preventing and addressing corruption.

Looking to the future: What kind of world’s most powerful political party should we build, and how should we build it?

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Our Party must strengthen its own building and truly become the most powerful political party in the world.” In the document “Deepening the Party’s Self-Revolution,” General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The ideals our Party pursues are lofty and sacred, and the mission we shoulder is arduous and weighty. Only by examining ourselves in light of the demands of the times, remaining constantly alert with a strong sense of crisis, and forging ourselves with the spirit of self-revolution—continuously enhancing our leadership capabilities and governance standards—can we ensure that the Party remains untainted, unchanged in color, and true to its original character, and continues to be the strong and decisive leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” To build the world’s most powerful political party, an important goal is to strengthen the Party’s advanced nature and purity, making it a Marxist ruling party that always stays at the forefront of the times, enjoys the heartfelt support of the people, dares to carry out self-revolution, can withstand all kinds of trials and tribulations, and brims with vigor and vitality. The core elements include theoretical advancement, political firmness, tight organizational structure, excellent work style, strict discipline, and a well-established system. The main characteristics encompass powerful political functions, a robust ideological arsenal, significant organizational advantages, a solid foundation for governance, high-level leadership capabilities, and a strong contingent of Party members and cadres. The path to achieving this goal is to unswervingly uphold the principle of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as an ongoing endeavor, to keep the Party’s self-revolution going without pause, to remain ever vigilant and resolute in addressing the unique challenges faced by a large party, and to consistently advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, thereby forging our Party into an even stronger and more formidable force that will forever remain invincible.

We must firmly uphold the “Two Upholds” as the cornerstone for strengthening our Party. To build the world’s most powerful political party, the primary task is to deeply grasp the decisive significance of the “Two Establishments” and resolutely uphold the “Two Upholds.” We must achieve ideological alignment and profound conviction. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s position as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the entire Party has been forged in the course of new, great struggles—a choice that is both historically inevitable and unanimously endorsed by the people. Facts eloquently demonstrate that the “Two Establishments” represent the greatest political achievement of the new era, the most precious historical experience, and the most objective practical conclusion. They provide the Party and the people with the greatest certainty, the strongest confidence, and the most reliable guarantee in confronting all uncertainties. We must always remain closely aligned with and firmly united around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, embedding the “Two Upholds” deep within our very being and making them an integral part of our souls. In terms of action, we must be consciously compliant and strictly obedient. We must implement thoroughly and without any compromise the important instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping as well as the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee. At all times and under all circumstances, we must ensure consistency between words and deeds, integrating knowledge with practice, remaining true to our original aspirations, unwavering in our resolve, and steadfast in our principles. We must also establish institutional safeguards to ensure that the “Two Upholds” are effectively implemented and yield tangible results. By perfecting the institutional framework for upholding the “Two Upholds,” we can guarantee the Party’s unity and solidarity and ensure consistent action across the board. We should strengthen the Party’s leadership system, which provides overall guidance and coordinates among all parties; improve mechanisms for implementing major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee; and establish a comprehensive working mechanism covering task division, supervision and implementation, and accountability. We must rigorously enforce the system of reporting and seeking instructions, ensuring that the Party Central Committee’s directives are smoothly communicated and strictly enforced.

We must steadfastly regard scientific theory as the soul of strengthening our Party. To build the world’s most powerful political party, we must place great emphasis on ideological development—the very foundation of our Party—and regard studying, publicizing, and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our fundamental political task. We must continuously promote large-scale learning, widespread dissemination, and thorough implementation across the entire Party. Our study of this thought must be comprehensive and systematic: we should read the original works, study the original texts, and deeply comprehend their underlying principles. We must accurately grasp the worldview, methodology, and guiding stance, viewpoints, and approaches embedded in this important thought, and systematically master its profound truths, sophisticated theoretical insights, and deep philosophical underpinnings. In putting this thought into practice, we must be precise and scientifically grounded, consciously applying scientific methodologies and skillfully “playing the piano with all ten fingers”—transforming the Party Central Committee’s strategic decisions and broad outlines into detailed, meticulously crafted blueprints and operational plans. We must also uphold the spirit of innovation and development in our thinking, adhere to the “two combinations,” intensify research and summarization of major theoretical issues, practical challenges, historical experiences, and the laws governing theoretical innovation, and continually deepen our understanding and interpretation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. At the same time, we must vigorously promote the spiritual lineage of the Communist Party of China, rooted in the great founding spirit of the Party, carry forward the spirit of the new era, and draw strength and inspiration from it to forge ahead.

We must firmly regard building a strong cadre and talent pool as the key to strengthening the Party. To build the world’s most powerful political party, we must uphold the principle of Party leadership over cadres, further enhance efforts in cadre development, selection, management, and utilization, and cultivate a high-quality cadre team that is strong politically, capable, and characterized by an outstanding work style. In cadre training and education, we must ensure an organic integration of knowledge and practice. We should emphasize clarifying right from wrong and distinguishing between good and evil in thought, and deeply understanding principles and seeking truth through practical experience. We must systematically and purposefully place cadres at the forefront of reform and development, in challenging and complex regions, in critical and demanding positions, on the front lines of urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, and at the grassroots level of governance, providing them with opportunities for rigorous training and tempering. We must strengthen education on the correct view of official achievements, continuously enhancing cadres’ ability and competence to promote high-quality development. In cadre selection and utilization, we must ensure an organic unity between selection and employment. We must not only match virtue with position but also match talent with position; we must strengthen ideological tests, pay close attention to assessing cadres’ vision, integrity, and commitment to loyalty and honesty; and when assigning personnel, we must make sure they are deployed at the right time and placed in positions where their strengths can be best utilized, thereby improving the alignment between individuals and their roles and giving the entire cadre team motivation, prospects, and hope. In cadre management and supervision, we must ensure an organic transformation between accountability and action. We must establish a clear orientation that values and emphasizes taking responsibility, ensuring that those cadres who are willing to act, capable of acting, and able to get things done truly “shine.” We must refine methods for evaluating and assessing performance, looking not only at visible achievements but also at hidden contributions. We must adhere to a combination of strict management and caring support, promoting both upward and downward mobility of cadres—using strict management to encourage responsibility and using caring support to boost morale. At the same time, we must do a good job in talent work for the new era, deepen reforms of talent development systems and mechanisms, implement more proactive, open, and effective talent policies, and accelerate the building of a globally important talent hub and innovation highland.

We must firmly regard strengthening organizational building as the cornerstone of a strong Party. To build the world’s most powerful political party, we must place particular emphasis on constructing and improving our organizational system, continuously enhancing the overall integrity of our organizations, the seamless connectivity of our systems, and the practical effectiveness of our development efforts. We should make the Party’s organizational structure more tangible and concrete. In response to profound economic and social transformations, we must innovate both the setup and operational methods of Party organizations, with special focus on strengthening Party building within new economic entities, new social organizations, and new employment groups. We should actively extend Party organizations into new fields, new spaces, and among new groups, making the “form” of our Party’s organizational system clearer, more three-dimensional, and more resilient. We should also make our Party’s organizational system more robust and effective. Focusing on enhancing the Party’s political leadership, ideological guidance, mass mobilization capacity, and social appeal, we must refine the system of democratic centralism, improve the operational mechanisms of Party organizations at all levels—both higher and lower—and ensure that the authority of the Party Central Committee remains supreme and final. At the same time, we must fully harness the initiative and dynamism of local and grassroots Party organizations, enabling Party organizations at all levels to grasp the bigger picture, effectively manage Party members, rally the masses, and deliver tangible results. Finally, we must make our Party’s organizational system more efficient and effective. Party organizations at all levels should identify clear entry points and priorities for focusing their efforts around the central tasks and serving the broader interests of the Party. We must concentrate our strength on accomplishing major undertakings while wholeheartedly attending to even the smallest details; we must strive to bring honor to our own regions while simultaneously contributing to the overall national cause. Only in this way can we truly consolidate, develop, and fully leverage the unique advantages of our Party’s organizational structure.

We must steadfastly regard self-revolution as the path to strengthening the Party. To build the world’s most powerful political party, we must deepen the Party’s self-revolution, seamlessly integrate the two answers to breaking free from historical cyclical patterns, and ensure that the Party remains forever untainted, unchanged in color, and true to its original character. We must adhere to a problem-oriented approach. We should start by tackling the most prominent problems and focus on the weakest links, making our self-revolution more targeted and more effective. We must pay attention to the “underlying issues” behind the apparent problems, look beyond surface phenomena to grasp the essence of matters, and dare to wield the knife against arbitrary power, greedy capital, and entrenched interests—thus preventing ourselves from falling into the trap of finding it easy to reform others but difficult to reform ourselves. We must uphold innovation and reform. We need to achieve new breakthroughs in our guiding principles, expand our methods, and refine our approaches. We should apply governance concepts, systemic thinking, and dialectical reasoning to govern and manage the Party; leverage internet technologies and information tools to empower self-revolution; and shift from addressing individual cases and targeted rectifications toward systematic and comprehensive governance across the board. We must maintain a tone of strictness. We must insist on strictness as the top priority, pursue comprehensively stringent measures, and enforce rigor all the way through. We must strictly enforce political discipline and rules, persistently address the “Four Winds,” comprehensively strengthen Party discipline, and deeply promote joint investigation and treatment of both corruption and misconduct. This will ensure that the deterrent effect of strictness endures. We must govern the Party according to established systems and regulations. We must improve the Party’s institutional framework for self-revolution, taking the Party Constitution as the fundamental basis and democratic centralism as the core. We must establish sound institutional mechanisms that unify authorization, exercise of power, and oversight of power, ensuring clarity, transparency, and traceability. We must pay close attention to identifying loopholes in the exercise of power and filling institutional gaps. We must transform the practical achievements of comprehensively enforcing strict Party governance into rigid institutional requirements, ensuring that self-revolution is guided by clear rules and procedures. At the same time, we must rigorously enforce these systems and regulations, making iron rules truly effective and prohibitions genuinely powerful.

The great path is as smooth as a grindstone; the overarching trend is like an incoming tide. The comprehensive advancement of Chinese-style modernization to fully realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable. We must maintain strategic composure, uphold the spirit of historical initiative, and rally closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. In accordance with the goals and requirements set forth by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Party Congress, we must think in unison and pool our efforts, forging ourselves into “a solid block of steel.” With unwavering resolve as firm as bedrock and an unshakable belief in certain victory, we will stride forward boldly on the new journey of fully building a modern socialist country.