Social work is an important component of the Party and the state’s undertakings, crucial to the Party’s long-term governance and the country’s enduring stability and security, and vital to social harmony, stability, and the happiness and well-being of the people. Recently, the Central Conference on Social Work was held in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered important instructions, emphasizing the need to “unswervingly follow the path of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics” and “promote high-quality development of social work in the new era.” This not only reflects the high importance that the Party and the state attach to social work, but also marks the entry of China’s social work into a new stage of development.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the successive introduction of a series of important policies, social work has surged with new vitality in enhancing people’s quality of life and promoting social development, thus opening up a new chapter in “China’s governance.” Guided by the development philosophy centered on the people, social work has been deeply integrated with livelihood initiatives, leading to the continuous refinement of policies and systems and the ongoing strengthening of institutional mechanisms. Various inclusive measures aimed at improving people’s livelihoods have synergized effectively, drawing a clearer blueprint for jointly creating a better life. Over the years, localities have actively explored effective approaches to strengthening Party building in emerging fields, expanding both the organizational and working coverage of the Party, uniting and rallying the most dynamic forces in economic and social development, and leading the masses to move forward together. As a bridge and link for communicating public sentiment and民意, social work, through extensively listening to public opinion and pooling collective wisdom, transforms the “golden ideas” of the people into “golden keys” for urban governance, yielding “golden fruits” that benefit and serve the people. In the practice of innovating social governance, by establishing collaborative networks across departments and sectors, we have stimulated broad participation of social forces, driving social governance to continuously deepen and advance. These initiatives and achievements clearly demonstrate the unique advantages of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics, providing strong support for achieving common prosperity and advancing Chinese-style modernization. Looking ahead, social work must actively integrate into the broader framework of the national governance system, focus on reform and innovation of its institutional mechanisms, continuously improve its own systems and mechanisms, and promote high-quality development of social work.

Optimize top-level design, leverage institutional advantages, and further refine the social governance system. The Party’s comprehensive leadership is an institutional advantage that drives continuous innovation and development in social work. By strengthening the guiding role of Party organizations, social work can better serve and benefit the people. In carrying out social work, we should also enhance coordinated collaboration with other departments, improve decision-making and implementation mechanisms, and ensure that policies are effectively implemented and yield tangible results. At present, a large number of new economic and social organizations are emerging, and the scale of new employment groups continues to expand. As a result, the clientele of social work has become more diverse, and their needs have grown increasingly complex, making cross-departmental collaboration crucial. We can enhance the overall efficiency of decision-making and implementation by establishing joint working mechanisms and improving regular communication channels. Moreover, we must strengthen institutional development, establish a nationally unified policy framework for social work, facilitate the integration of social work resources and standardize management, provide clear guidance for the implementation of social work policies across regions, and ensure that social work progresses steadily and sustainably within the national governance system.

Focusing on grassroots communities, we will continue to promote governance innovation and further enhance governance effectiveness. Grassroots communities are the core units of social governance. By exploring innovative governance approaches and establishing scientific governance mechanisms, we can ensure that social work effectively meets the practical needs of residents at the grassroots level. We can extend the “community + social worker + volunteer” service model to the grassroots level, leveraging the synergistic effects of these three actors in grassroots governance. We can also draw on Beijing’s innovative practices such as “streets and townships give the signal, departments respond” and “address complaints immediately upon receipt.” By refining the multi-level management of social work, we can ensure that residents’ needs are swiftly relayed to the relevant departments, thereby enhancing the grassroots’ capacity and efficiency in addressing social issues. On this basis, we will continuously strengthen process reengineering and enhance the preventive and developmental functions of social work, resolving conflicts during the early prevention and source-control stages. Through professional services, we will boost individuals’ and families’ sense of gain and satisfaction. With the rapid advancement of information and digital technologies, technology has become an important tool for driving the transformation and upgrading of governance. For example, Zhejiang Province has achieved comprehensive deployment of digital governance through its integrated intelligent governance system at the grassroots level. Relying on the social governance center platform, it coordinates resources from public security, procuratorates, courts, social organizations, and volunteers, enabling it to tackle complex social issues while maintaining both flexibility and stability in governance—a development that provides new practical pathways for social work.

Cultivating specialized and highly skilled professionals, enhancing overall capabilities, and further strengthening the quality of the social work workforce—this is essential for building a robust foundation for social governance. To achieve this, we must develop a systematic training program aimed at improving the political awareness, management skills, and professional competence of social workers and grassroots cadres. Through comprehensive professional knowledge and skill training covering all personnel, as well as robust assessment and feedback mechanisms and lifelong learning initiatives, we can ensure that social workers become thoroughly familiar with relevant policies and master the necessary skills, thereby laying a solid human resource foundation for delivering efficient social services. At the same time, continuously promoting the comprehensive capacity-building of community workers—on the premise of clearly defining competency standards for community workers and establishing tiered vocational skill levels for social workers—will enable the establishment of a two-way recognition and certification mechanism, thus facilitating the professional certification and continuous enhancement of community workers’ competencies. The development of social work education and the cultivation of specialized talent are equally critical. To this end, we should accelerate structural reforms in social work talent development: on the one hand, support the establishment of specialized doctoral programs in the field of social work to train high-level, practice-oriented professionals; on the other hand, explore ways to streamline the social work professional qualification certification process and, through policy guidance, provide social work practitioners with broader opportunities for career development and promotion.

Now that the wind is just right, it’s the perfect time to hoist the sails and bravely ride the waves—opening up boundless horizons. Faced with new circumstances and fresh tasks, social workers across the board must embrace their new mission and demonstrate new achievements. We are confident that, through the joint efforts and collaborative spirit of all sectors of society, social work in the new era will surely write a brilliant chapter of high-quality development, brimming with vibrant energy and momentum, making social governance more efficient and ensuring enduring well-being for the people.