Advancing High-Quality Military Development Through the Modernization of Military Governance
The Reform Theory Research Center of the National University of Defense Technology
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, focusing on "achieving the centenary goal of military building on schedule and advancing national defense and military modernization with high quality," proposed for the first time the requirement to "advance the modernization of military governance." When attending the plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Forces Police Force at the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress, President Xi emphasized "pooling strength to promote the steady and long-term progress of national defense and military modernization." This year marks the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan" [1] and is the critical year for achieving the centenary goal of military building. Facing this important historical juncture and shouldering glorious missions and responsibilities, we must profoundly recognize that the modernization of military governance—as a vital aspect of advancing the modernization of the national governance system and capacity—is of great significance for improving the quality and efficiency of national defense and military modernization and for promoting the steady and long-term progress of the cause of strengthening the military. We must continuously increase the intensity of military governance work and use new enhancements in military governance to boost the high-quality development of the cause of strengthening the military.
Comprehensively strengthening military governance is a profound transformation of our Party’s philosophy and methods of military management
The level of governance determines the quality of development, and the modernization of governance concerns the process of strengthening the military. From the 20th CPC National Congress proposing to "comprehensively strengthen military governance," to the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasizing "improving the military governance system," and finally to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee putting forward the major proposition of "advancing the modernization of military governance," these steps reflect our Party’s continuous and deep grasp of the laws governing military construction and management in the New Era. They reflect the overall requirements for the modernization of the national governance system and capacity and will certainly lead and promote a profound transformation in military management philosophies and methods.
President Xi’s important thoughts on military governance mark a new height in our Party’s understanding of the Marxist laws of military construction and management. In Marxist theories of the state, the state possesses the dual functions of "political rule" and "social governance," and the military, as an essential component of the state apparatus, is a vital force for ensuring national governance. Since the founding of the people’s army, our Party has always focused on combining the basic Marxist principles of governance with the specific practices of our military’s construction and management, continuously exploring the laws governing the operation of the military system, thereby laying a solid foundation for the construction and development of the people’s army. From the promulgation of the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention" [2] during the military’s nascent period, to the implementation of the "Five Unifications and Four Characteristics" [3] after the founding of New China, and to the establishment of governing the military according to law and with strict discipline as an important guiding principle for military construction after the Reform and Opening-up, our Party’s long-standing emphasis on military governance has laid a solid foundation for our military’s development.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi, aiming to boost the new development of the cause of strengthening the military through new enhancements in military governance, has explored the characteristics and laws of military management in the New Era. He has made pioneering expositions on military governance, scientifically answering fundamental, directional, and overall major questions regarding the comprehensive strengthening of military governance. He has proposed a series of new ideas, viewpoints, and judgments on the great significance, scientific connotation, basic principles, goals and tasks, focus points, methods and paths, and responsibility requirements for comprehensively strengthening military governance. For example, regarding leadership forces, he emphasizes that "upholding the Party's absolute leadership over the military is the soul of a strong military." Comprehensively strengthening military governance is intended to better implement the fundamental principle and system of the Party's absolute leadership over the military, comprehensively and deeply implement the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, ensure that the "barrel of a gun" [4] always follows the Party's command, and ensure the people's army remains a pillar of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Regarding target orientation, he emphasizes that achieving the Party's goal of strengthening the military in the New Era is both the objective and the direction of comprehensively strengthening military governance: "The whole military must accurately grasp this goal of strengthening the military and use it to lead military construction, reform, and preparations for military struggle." Regarding the fundamental standard, he emphasizes "always upholding combat effectiveness as the sole and fundamental standard." Comprehensively strengthening military governance must take the improvement of combat power as the starting point and end goal of all work. Regarding primary content, he emphasizes the systematic updating of governance concepts and the profound transformation of military management methods, achieving the "fundamental transition from relying solely on administrative orders to administration according to law; the fundamental transition from working based on habit and experience to working based on laws, regulations, and systems; and the fundamental transition from crash-program and movement-style work [5] to acting in accordance with rules and regulations," thereby raising the levels of scientific, law-based, and refined military construction. President Xi’s important thoughts on military governance are a profound summation of our Party’s long-term successful experience in building and managing the military. They reflect the Party's deep understanding of the characteristics and laws of leading and managing the military in the New Era, and they provide the direction and compliance for comprehensively improving our winning capabilities, operational efficiency of the military system, and the utilization of national defense resources in the journey toward strengthening and revitalizing the military.
The modernization of military governance proposed by our Party both inherits the essence of excellent traditional Chinese military culture, such as the idea that "the reason a military wins is through governance" [6], and absorbs rational elements from Western military governance concepts. It is a theoretical and practical innovation based on China’s national and military conditions. First, as a vital manifestation of the modernization of the national governance system and capacity in the military field, the modernization of military governance is both an activity/process and a state/result. It is a general reflection of the status of military construction, the level of operational management, and the performance of functions; it is also manifested as a dialectical development process of coordinating the governance of the country and the military, and the strengthening of the country and the military. Second, the modernization of military governance is a systemic design for the scientific governance of the military across all fields, elements, and cycles. It is an organic unity of the modernization of the military governance system and the modernization of military governance capacity. We must optimize the allocation of powers, smooth collaborative operational mechanisms, substantiate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and strengthen supervision and enforcement mechanisms by building a sound military governance system. Simultaneously, we must continuously enhance the governance capacity to manage, integrate, guide, adjust, and reform all aspects of military affairs in accordance with military policies and systems to promote national defense and military development. Third, the modernization of military governance enriches and expands the categories and connotations of national defense and military modernization. It is a beneficial supplement to the modernization of military theory, organizational forms, personnel, and weaponry, while also permeating these areas to effectively improve the construction efficiency of various levels and fields. Finally, the modernization of military governance of our army has an essential qualitative difference in value pursuit from that of all other types of militaries: we pursue governance for the broadest masses of the people, whereas capitalist military governance is governance for the few—a tool and means for a minority to seek hegemony and private interests.
The modernization of military governance and high-quality development of the military are interdependent and mutually reinforcing parts of an organic whole, unified in the great practice of national defense and military modernization. Development without quality is useless regardless of quantity; some may even become a burden to the troops, leading to significant waste. As high-quality development is the "unyielding principle" [7] of the New Era, it further clarifies "what kind of development the people's army should achieve," while the modernization of military governance answers the practical question of "how to support and guarantee our military's development." Detached from the orientation of high-quality development, the modernization of military governance would lose its target; without high-level military governance, high-quality development would be unsustainable due to a lack of a stable environment and institutional guarantees.
On one hand, the modernization of military governance provides the momentum and support for high-quality military development. To advance the modernization of military governance, we must build a system of military institutions with Chinese characteristics that is comprehensive, scientifically standardized, and effective in operation. Through institutional advantages, we can effectively break down institutional barriers, structural contradictions, and policy problems, fully releasing the creative potential of various elements. This achieves the optimized allocation and efficient utilization of military resources, clearing obstacles, gathering synergy, and injecting momentum for high-quality development. On the other hand, the high-quality development of the military is the key yardstick for testing the level of the modernization of military governance. it directly reflects the scientific nature of the military governance system, the effectiveness of policy implementation, and the synergy of institutional operations. It plays a powerful driving and enabling role in the modernization of military governance, objectively forcing adaptive transformations in military governance across ideologies, systems, mechanisms, methods, and capacity guarantees. Overall, both must unswervingly uphold the Party's absolute leadership, adhere to the sacred duty of "carrying the gun for the people and fighting for the people," be oriented toward the construction of advanced combat power, take quality and efficiency as the core, use scientific and technological innovation as the drive, and use systemic construction as the hallmark. They promote each other and jointly act upon the entire process of our military accelerating national defense and military modernization and building a world-class military in all respects.
Advancing national defense and military modernization with high quality urgently requires doing a great job in the modernization of military governance
Advancing high-quality military development through the modernization of military governance is a major strategic subject that encompasses the overall situation, long-term construction, and dynamic development. To comprehensively and accurately grasp its great significance, we must understand it within President Xi’s grand strategy for governing the Party, the country, and the military; examine it within the large system of national governance; and recognize it within the grand practice of strengthening the country and the military.
It is an inherent requirement for planning and advancing national defense and military modernization as part of the strategic deployment of Chinese-path modernization. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi, based on the "two overall situations" [8], has provided a comprehensive and systematic exposition on the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles of Chinese-path modernization. This has led to the formation of a top-level design with goals, plans, and strategies, pointing out the "broad road" for building a strong country and national rejuvenation, and clarifying the development direction and implementation path for national defense and military modernization. Within this, the coordinated advancement of high-efficiency governance and high-quality development is a global and prescriptive task for national defense and military modernization. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, national defense and military modernization must shoulder the historical heavy responsibility of supporting the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation. According to President Xi’s strategic blueprint, we must plan and advance the modernization of military governance within the "grand chessboard" [9] of Chinese-path modernization. This ensures that military modernization and national governance modernization are advanced as one and resonate at the same frequency, achieving the synchronized enhancement of national defense and economic strength, and ensuring that high-quality development yields tangible results in the fields of national defense and military construction.
It is a realistic necessity for responding to unprecedented risks and challenges and achieving the centenary goal of military building on schedule. The world today is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the cause of strengthening and revitalizing the military faces new "timing and momentum" (时与势). On the road ahead, the risks and challenges we face will only become more complex; we must be prepared to withstand the major tests of "high winds and surging waves, and even perilous stormy seas." President Xi noted: "History and reality both tell us that as long as we uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, advance the modernization of the national governance system and capacity, and remain skilled at using institutional power to respond to the impact of risks and challenges, we will surely be able to withstand one pressure test after another, continuously turning crises into opportunities and being reborn through fire." Facing the rapidly changing international situation and intricate risks and challenges, the urgent need to achieve the centenary goal of military building on schedule requires accelerating the modernization of military governance and continuously improving the military system with Chinese characteristics. We must always maintain the vigorous vitality and strong executive power of the institutional system to provide a powerful guarantee for achieving the target on schedule.
It is an urgent move to resolve the problems of sluggish military system operation and accelerate the improvement of our military's development efficiency. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, our Party has actively promoted explorations and practices in military governance. In particular, by deepening the reform of national defense and the military, promoting the governance of the military according to law, and strengthening and improving strategic military management, a series of brand-new systems, mechanisms, laws, regulations, and policies have been formed. Our military's combat power has undergone "chain-reaction fission" (链式裂变) and "energy-level leaps" (能级跃升). The people's army has been reshaped, reconstructed, transformed, and upgraded, taking giant strides toward becoming a world-class force. Today, our military is at a critical stage of improving quality and efficiency. In the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the weight, standards, and investment of national defense and military construction tasks are unprecedented, placing extremely high requirements on precision, refinement, and lean management. However, our military still faces problems such as insufficiently smooth system operations, insufficiently strong cross-domain coordination, and insufficiently efficient resource integration, which restrict the full release of systemic combat capabilities. We must strengthen systemic concepts and systemic thinking through the comprehensive enhancement of military governance, optimizing organizational forms, smoothing command relationships, and integrating forces and resources. We must build a modern military governance system where "combat, construction, and preparedness" (战建备) are advanced as one and operate efficiently, driving national defense and military modernization to run with the "accelerated speed" of high-quality development.
It is the "way of strengthening the military" (强军之道) to seize the initiative and seek strategic advantage in international military competition. President Xi pointed out:
"Deepen the reform of the leadership and command system, force structures, and policies and institutions to provide a robust institutional support for building a consolidated national defense and a strong military, and for gaining a competitive advantage in military affairs." At present, a new round of technological and military revolutions is accelerating. The development of military intelligence is driving significant shifts in the form of modern warfare; the concepts, elements, and methods of achieving victory in war are undergoing profound changes, and competition in the international military domain continues to escalate. Ultimately, international military competition is a competition between systems and capacities of military governance. Whoever can maximize the integration of comprehensive national strength, utilize strategic resources, and advance innovation—especially technological innovation and the transformation of its results—at the fastest speed and lowest cost will be able to occupy the commanding heights and seize the initiative. We must keep pace with the trends of advanced technological change and construct a "dual-engine" model driven by both institutions and technology. By injecting technological momentum into institutional governance, we can promote faster, higher-quality, more efficient, and more sustainable development for our military. Only by transforming institutional advantages into developmental efficacy [10] and turning governance advantages into a position of strength for victory can we seize the opportunity and win the future in the midst of fierce international military competition.
Carving Out a Path to Promote the High-Quality Development of Our Military through the Modernization of Military Governance
As the building of national defense and the military continues to advance, the integrity, synergy, and complexity of the military system’s operation have significantly increased, and its internal operating mechanisms have undergone important changes. At the same time, our military has entered a critical period of transformation and leapfrogging, which places newer and higher demands on the operation of the military system. We must engage in holistic planning and comprehensive consideration, using governance to promote development and development to lead governance, while comprehensively enhancing the "quality" of modernization through the "governance" of modernization.
Transforming thinking and concepts. Promoting the modernization of military governance is a deep-seated change that touches upon the system and reflects its essence; it is also an all-around transformation from concepts to methods and from thoughts to actions. We must promote the high-quality development of national defense and military construction with a broader vision and newer concepts. First, we must establish a concept of systemic governance. We should be adept at using systems thinking to observe and analyze problems, strengthen the top-level design and strategic planning of military governance, and succeed in the coordination and connection of governance across all fields, links, and levels, ensuring a systematic advancement that is planned, focused, and incremental. Second, we must establish a concept of governance according to the law. We must integrate rule-of-law thinking and methods throughout all fields and processes of military governance. We should give full play to the fundamental role of policies and institutions in regulating military relations, standardizing military practice, and guaranteeing military development. Through scientific legislation and strict law enforcement, we will achieve the transition from "rule of man" to "rule of law," ensuring that military governance always operates on a legal track. Third, we must establish a concept of comprehensive governance. We must fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of all types of governance forces. We should not only leverage the leading, normative, and guaranteeing roles of the rule of law but also emphasize the nourishing, educational, and inspiring roles of the rule of virtue. We should utilize both effective traditional administrative management methods and various high-tech means such as big data and intelligence to achieve synergy and collaborative governance. Fourth, we must establish a concept of governance at the source. We must conduct deep analyses of the underlying reasons restricting the quality and efficiency of military construction, and grasp the source-level and fundamental factors such as policies, institutions, mechanisms, and standards. By improving the source-control mechanism, we strive to eliminate various risks and hidden dangers before they sprout [11], achieving the unity of treating both the symptoms and the root causes.
Grasping the primary tasks. The modernization of military governance is a highly pioneering systemic project involving all aspects of national defense and military construction. First, we must continue to deepen political rectification [12]. To promote the modernization of military governance, the primary task is to resolve issues of political character and direction, ensuring that the Party’s absolute leadership over the military is implemented and reflected in all fields and processes of military construction. Political rectification is the strategic handle for further advancing the political building of the military. We must deliver a "combination punch" of rectifying ideology, personnel selection, organization, conduct, and discipline while maintaining persistent effort to achieve a thorough purification [13] at the political level, ensuring that the people's army remains forever pure and honorable. Second, we must ensure the implementation of reform tasks. We must deeply implement the strategy of strengthening the military through reform, consolidate and expand the achievements of reform, and fully release the efficacy of reform to provide a vibrant institutional guarantee for high-quality development. Third, we must strengthen and improve strategic management. We must persist in "aiming for the great while exhausting the minute" [14], taking efficiency as the core and precision as the orientation. We should update management concepts, optimize management processes, innovate management mechanisms, and improve the strategic management chain of "demand–planning–budgeting–execution–evaluation" to enhance the operational efficiency and construction quality of our military system. Fourth, we must further advance the building of the rule of law in the military. We must improve the system of military rule of law with Chinese characteristics, forming a system of military regulations and institutions, a military law enforcement system, a military law supervision system, and a military law guarantee system that are comprehensive, rigorous, and efficient. We should transform the methods of governing the military in accordance with rule-of-law requirements, promoting the transition of military management from a traditional experience-based model to a modern law-based one. Fifth, we must strengthen cross-civil-military governance [15]. Development lacking supervision is bound to be riddled with malpractice. The junction between the military and civilian sectors is a key and difficult area for supervision. At the start of the "15th Five-Year Plan" [16], we must establish rigid rules for strict supervision, deepen cross-civil-military reform, and strengthen integrated military-civilian oversight. We must persist in construction under the prerequisite of supervision, increase the intensity of supervision, succeed in communication and coordination, rationalize the relationship of powers and responsibilities, improve the accountability system, and clarify work interfaces to form a cross-civil-military work pattern where everyone performs their duties with close cooperation and in a standardized and orderly manner.
Adhering to scientific methods. Correct practice cannot be separated from the guidance of scientific methods. To promote the high-quality development of our military with high-level governance, we must master and apply scientific methods that meet the requirements of the times and reflect the laws of governance. First, we must persist in the combination of systemic planning and precise policy implementation. We should not only strengthen top-level design—conducting strategic planning from a global and long-term perspective to ensure the correct direction and clear goals of governance—but also persist in analyzing specific problems specifically, identifying key points and breakthroughs based on the characteristics of different fields, levels, and units. Second, we must persist in the unity of reform and innovation with the following of objective laws. We should both explore boldly and innovate courageously, while also respecting objective laws, pushing out the old to bring in the new on the basis of grasping these laws, and deepening our understanding of them through innovative practice. Third, we must persist in the linkage between process control and result evaluation. We should not only focus on governance results and construct a scientific performance evaluation system using the standards of advanced combat effectiveness to measure governance efficacy, but also strengthen dynamic monitoring and adjustment of the process to discover problems and correct deviations in a timely manner. This forms a closed-loop management of decision-making, execution, supervision, evaluation, and improvement, realizing a step-by-step ascent in governance levels. Fourth, we must persist in the mutual promotion of technological empowerment and institutional support. We should fully utilize modern technological means such as big data and artificial intelligence to enhance the intelligence and refinement of governance, using improved institutions to regulate technological applications and using technological applications to solidify institutional achievements, thereby realizing a virtuous interaction between "technological governance" and "legal governance."
(Drafted by: Fu Wanjuan, Zou Xiaojun, Li Jun) Source: People's Daily (March 27, 2026) Editor: Huihui