[Think Tank Q&A]Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee】
Guests in this issue:
Director, Institute of Political Science, China Academy of Social Sciences Zhang Shuhua
Researcher, Socialism with Chinese characteristics Institute of Thought, New Era, Supreme Leader of China Renmin University. Chenjiagang
Distinguished professor, Executive Vice President of School of Government Administration of Peking University and "Changjiang Scholar" of the Ministry of Education. Yan jirong
Distinguished professor, Dean of School of Public Administration of Zhejiang University and "Changjiang Scholar" of the Ministry of Education. Yu jianxing

1. Only the system that takes root in domestic soil and absorbs abundant nutrients can work reliably.
Bright Think Tank: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized that the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system is a scientific system formed by the Party and the people through long-term practice and exploration. All work and activities of state governance in China are carried out in accordance with the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system, and China’s state governance system and governance capacity are the concentrated expression of the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system and its implementation capacity. In your opinion, what problems should be paid attention to in designing, developing and perfecting the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system?
Zhang Shuhua:Since the founding of New China 70 years ago, it is not only the history of China people’s struggle for national prosperity, national rejuvenation and people’s happiness, but also the history of institutional evolution in which the Communist Party of China (CPC) led the people of all ethnic groups in China to independently explore the road of socialist modernization and gradually establish, improve and develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Zhang Shuhua and Guo Hongsong painted.
System is a fundamental issue related to the development of the cause of the party and the state. What kind of political system a country implements must be adapted to its national conditions. There is no one-size-fits-all specific development model in the world, and there is no fixed development path. The essence of our governance is to uphold the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership and the socialist system.
Chen Jiagang:Our system works because it grew from the social soil of China. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s system and state governance system are systems and governance systems guided by Marxism, rooted in China, with profound Chinese cultural roots and won the support of the people." To promote the perfection of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s system, we should proceed from the history and culture of our nation and our own national conditions. We should not only grasp the long-term historical inheritance, development path and accumulated political experience, but also grasp the realistic requirements, solve realistic problems and plan future development.

Chen Jiagang Guo Hongsong painted.
Yan Jirong:China’s national governance system and governance capacity are the concentrated expression of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s system and its implementation capacity. The important task of national construction is to seek scientific, reasonable and efficient institutional arrangements to ensure the country’s operation on the track of prosperity and development. Therefore, it is necessary to build a dynamic, pragmatic and efficient governance system. The key to building a governance system lies in institutional supply, that is, setting rules, rules and regulations to provide boundaries for freedom of behavior.

Yan Jirong and Guo Hongsong painted.
2. To integrate "control" and "governance", it is necessary to "build up" and "turn up"
Bright Think Tank: Building a systematic, scientific, standardized and effective institutional system is the premise and foundation for transforming institutional advantages into national governance efficiency. What are the key tasks to be done to realize the transformation from institutional advantages to governance efficiency?
Zhang Shuhua:To promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, we must unswervingly strengthen and improve the centralized and unified leadership of the party. The centralized and unified leadership of the Party is Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s political advantage, and it is also the greatest political advantage to realize "the rule of China".

In Changxing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, party member volunteers are cleaning up river garbage. Tan Yun Feng photo/bright picture
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee focused on improving the system of the Party’s leadership that takes the overall situation into consideration and coordinates all parties, and put forward six requirements. The first is to establish a system of Do not forget your initiative mind and keeping the mission in mind. The second is to improve various systems that firmly safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee and centralize and unify leadership. The third is to improve the party’s overall leadership system. The fourth is to improve various systems that govern for the people and rely on the people. The fifth is to improve the system of improving the party’s ruling ability and leadership level. The sixth is to improve the system of comprehensively and strictly administering the party. The above-mentioned system is the basic element of the party’s leadership system, which must be fully built, always adhered to, constantly improved and developed.
Chen Jiagang:At present, we should make good use of the stock resources of the system and promote the stock reform. We should make full use of the advantages of the existing system, make good use of the "precipitated" and "textual" system norms, and make the "built" system "turn around" in practice through specific institutional mechanisms and program design.
The key to upholding and perfecting the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system is to increase and expand our advantages and characteristics. We should constantly promote the institutionalization, standardization and proceduralization of socialist democratic politics, give full play to the advantages of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s political system, and provide a more perfect institutional guarantee for the prosperity and long-term stability of the party and the country.
Yu Jianxing:To further highlight the institutional advantages, we need to focus on three aspects: consolidating institutional advantages, strengthening institutional implementation, and filling institutional shortcomings.

Yu Jianxing and Guo Hongsong painted.
Consolidate and develop the institutional advantages that have been achieved. For example, since the founding of New China 70 years ago, we have adhered to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party, adhered to the Party’s scientific theory, maintained political stability, and ensured that the country has always advanced along the socialist direction. We should constantly consolidate and develop the remarkable advantages of China’s national system and national governance system in many aspects.
Strengthen system implementation. Supervision and inspection is a way to strengthen the implementation of the system, which also includes the positive guarantee of the rule of law and the guidance of the rule of virtue.
Fill in the shortcomings of the system. After more than 40 years of reform and opening up, compared with the remarkable achievements we have made in the field of market economy, social construction, social governance and institutional construction in the field of ecological environmental protection are relatively lagging behind. It is urgent to fill in the shortcomings of the system in the field of social governance and do a good job in top-level design.

3. Stimulate the potential of the system, so that good policies can bear fruit and be implemented.
Bright Think Tank: Promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity is a systematic project, and it is necessary to strengthen system governance, legal governance, comprehensive governance and source governance. In your opinion, how should we do a good job in these governance, so that various reforms complement each other and have a "chemical reaction"?
Chen Jiagang:To realize system governance, it is necessary to systematize and systematize the system construction and form the basis and premise of structural governance such as backbone system, backbone system, supporting system and auxiliary system. Governing by law is to abide by the institutional rules of governance, form a sense of rules in practice, and achieve fair and just governance performance. Comprehensive management is to adhere to the governance path of overall planning and coordinating all parties, comprehensively consider the governance measures in all aspects, fields and levels and their possible impacts in the practice of economic and social development, and coordinate them in time to achieve overall improvement. Source management, the key point is to look at the essence from the phenomenon, find the root cause from the problem, and insist on treating both the symptoms and the root causes.
Yu Jianxing:At present, in order to make all reforms complement each other, we must establish a global and systematic governance concept, and regard improving the national governance system and enhancing the national governance capacity as an organic whole. System is the key to solving the problem and the foundation of governance; Governance is the effect of operation and the ability of system. We should be alert to the understanding and practice of separating the governance system, governance capacity and governance efficiency. For example, grassroots governance needs to establish a standardized system of "horizontal to the edge and vertical to the end", but this is a means rather than an end. The real purpose is to use these means and tools to achieve orderly governance and make society full of vitality. Governance system mainly refers to the construction of systems and mechanisms, including not only the physical platform, but more importantly, the institutional mechanism of cooperation and co-governance among the government, market, society and individuals.
Zhang Shuhua:It is not enough to transform institutional advantages into governance efficiency, but also a "chemical reaction". Institutional confidence is the catalyst of "chemical reaction". We should constantly enhance institutional self-confidence, strengthen institutional theoretical research and publicity and education, guide the whole party and society to fully understand the essential characteristics and advantages of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s system, create a strong atmosphere of wanting, being able and doing things, and make good policies bear fruit and be implemented.
4. Top-level design and grass-roots innovation must be benign interaction.
Bright Think Tank: How to improve the governance level and efficiency to promote the system to be further matured, finalized, improved and consolidated?
Yan Jirong:A country’s institutional system is usually formed in major historical changes. After long-term practice, it is gradually consolidated in constant debugging and reform, and is fixed by constitution, laws, rules and other forms. The system implemented by each country has its own characteristics in name and organization, which are determined by the national conditions of each country. The design, development and perfection of the system pursue effectiveness and adaptability, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. The purpose is to give full play to the advantages of high efficiency, coordination and sustainability of the system, gradually improve the system, fill the shortcomings, and make the existing system mature and stereotyped.
Yu Jianxing:The key to promoting the further maturity of the system is to promote the implementation of policies at the grassroots level, so as to test and improve the system in practice. Since the reform and opening up, the reform of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" has become an important part of the miracle of China. In the new century, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it has always been an important mechanism in the field of local governance and social innovation to take local experiments as samples and upgrade successful experiences to national top-level design and promote them throughout the country. Local innovation is not only the implementation of top-level design, but also an important means to improve the level and efficiency of local governance, and it is also a process of continuous improvement within the framework of top-level design and eventually becoming a new, more mature and perfect national system. To improve the level and efficiency of national governance, it is necessary to achieve a benign interaction between top-level design and grassroots innovation.
Chen Jiagang:System is a summary of human social knowledge and experience. A mature and stereotyped system must have a widely recognized foundation. It is necessary to promote institutional innovation so that emerging social relations can operate under institutional norms. This requires attention to maintain four balances: first, the balance between system scale and system performance. How many systems are appropriate and how large the system is appropriate should be measured according to the actual situation and system performance; The second is the balance between institutional measures and institutional goals. Measures are to achieve the goal, and the system design that is conducive to promoting the implementation of the goal is reasonable and scientific, and it is necessary to avoid deviating from the goal in the process of system design; The third is the balance between institutional constraints and institutional incentives. The system has both restrictive function and incentive orientation, and comprehensively deepening the reform especially needs the system design to stimulate the power and potential; The fourth is the balance between system formulation and extensive participation. Only by establishing a relationship with the object of the system can the system abide by it, give full play to its effectiveness and maintain its authority and continuity.
Zhang Shuhua:To open up a new realm of "the rule of China", we must unswervingly adhere to the greatest advantage of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership. At present, we should adhere to the problem orientation, give more prominence to governance efficiency, and overcome the "idling" of reform under formalism and bureaucracy. Focus on the needs of development, the aspirations of the grassroots, and the aspirations of the people, strengthen the cooperation and linkage of relevant institutions, and make up our minds to get rid of the shortcomings of the institutional mechanisms that restrict reform and development, so as to make the party and state institutions more scientific, more optimized in functions, more coordinated in powers and responsibilities, more powerful in supervision, and more efficient in operation. Only in this way can we give full play to the effectiveness of the system, give people a sense of gain and development, and make our system more consolidated.
(Project Team: Guangming Daily All-Media Reporter John Zhang, Wang Simin, Jiang Xinjun, Cheng Yaqian, Associate Research Fellow of Guangming Think Tank Jiao Dewu)
Guangming Daily (November 12, 2019, 07 edition)