Modernizing the National Governance System and Capacity
At its third plenary session held in November 2013, the 18th CPC Central Committee stated that the overarching goal of comprehensively expanding in-depth reform is to refine and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to modernize the national governance system and capacity.
The governance system and capacity of a country are embodied in its institutions and its ability to execute the institutions.
China's national governance system is a system of institutions for managing the country under the CPC's leadership. These include economic, political, cultural, social, eco-environmental, and Party development mechanisms and institutions, as well as laws, regulations and plans. These are a complete set of tightly linked and coordinated national institutions.
China's national governance capacity is defined by its ability to use these institutions to manage various aspects of society, including reform, development and stability; internal affairs, foreign relations and national defense; and governance of the Party, the nation and the armed forces.
At its fourth plenary session held in October 2019, the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted a decision on upholding and improving China's socialist system and modernizing the national governance system and capacity. The document set the following goals: rendering systems in all areas better-defined and more mature by the time of the CPC's centenary; further improving systems in all fields and achieving basic modernization of the national governance system and capacity by 2035; and realizing full modernization of the national governance system and capacity by the time of the PRC's centenary, with China's socialist system further consolidated and its strengths fully deployed.
The governance systems that a country adopts are determined by its history and culture, the nature of its society, and the stage of economic development it has reached. China's socialist system and governance system did not appear from nowhere, but emerged from Chinese soil through a long process of revolution, economic development, and reform. They result from the application of the tenets of Marxism to China's conditions and are the outcome of a range of innovations in theory, practice and systems. They crystalize the wisdom of the Party and the people, and are in alignment with the Party's history, theory and practice.
The fundamental reason that the Chinese nation has risen up, become prosperous, and grown in strength over the seven decades since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 is that the CPC has led the people in establishing and improving the Chinese socialist system, in forming and developing systems for the Party's leadership, the economy, politics, culture, society, eco-environmental conservation, the military, and foreign affairs, and in enhancing national governance.
国家治理体系和治理能力现代化
2013年11月召开的中共十八届三中全会提出，全面深化改革的总目标是完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化。
国家治理体系和治理能力是一个国家的制度和制度执行能力的集中体现。国家治理体系是在党领导下管理国家的制度体系，包括经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明和党的建设等各领域体制机制、法律法规安排，也就是一整套紧密相连、相互协调的国家制度。国家治理能力是运用国家制度管理社会各方面事务的能力，包括改革发展稳定、内政外交国防、治党治国治军等各个方面。
2019年10月，中共十九届四中全会审议通过了《中共中央关于坚持和完善中国特色社会主义制度、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化若干重大问题的决定》，明确提出坚持和完善中国特色社会主义制度，推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的总体目标：到中国共产党成立100年时，在各方面制度更加成熟更加定型上取得明显成效；到2035年，各方面制度更加完善，基本实现国家治理体系和治理能力现代化；到新中国成立100年时，全面实现国家治理体系和治理能力现代化，使中国特色社会主义制度更加巩固、优越性充分展现。
一个国家选择什么样的国家制度和国家治理体系，是由这个国家的历史文化、社会性质、经济发展水平决定的。中国特色社会主义制度和国家治理体系不是从天上掉下来的，而是在中国的社会土壤中生长起来的，是经过革命、建设、改革长期实践形成的，是马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合的产物，是理论创新、实践创新、制度创新相统一的成果，凝结着中国共产党和中国人民的智慧，具有深刻的历史逻辑、理论逻辑、实践逻辑。新中国成立70多年来，中华民族之所以能迎来从站起来、富起来到强起来的伟大飞跃，最根本的是因为中国共产党领导人民建立和完善了中国特色社会主义制度，形成和发展了中国共产党的领导和经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明、军事、外事等各方面制度，不断加强和完善国家治理。