Advancing reform and Chinese modernization on the track of the rule of law is focused on better leveraging the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term, ensuring the correct direction of further comprehensively deepening reform and ensuring that Chinese modernization proceeds steadily and far. To achieve the unity of reform and the rule of law, the key is to grasp the important link of scientific legislation, ensuring that major reforms are grounded in law and that reform achievements are promptly elevated to legal systems.

　　Governance according to law is the most reliable and stable form of governance; the rule of law is the most scientific and effective way for a country to govern. Since the new era, we have persisted in advancing reform under the rule of law and improving the rule of law through reform, using the outstanding achievements of comprehensively advancing the rule of law to drive comprehensive deepening of reform to greater depth. The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese Modernization," deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, profoundly summarizes the valuable experience of reform and opening up, especially of comprehensively deepening reform in the new era, and takes "adhering to comprehensively advancing the rule of law" as one of the major principles for further comprehensively deepening reform. To thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, we must deeply understand and grasp this major principle, continuously strengthen the political consciousness, ideological consciousness, and action consciousness of deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization on the track of the rule of law, and continuously improve the ability to use rule-of-law thinking and rule-of-law methods to deepen reform, promote development, resolve contradictions, maintain stability, and respond to risks.

　　Proven by history, tested by practice, and required by reform

　　Looking across the history of human civilization, it is not difficult to find that the rule of law and development, the rule of law and reform, and the rule of law and modernization are closely related. Using clear legal norms to regulate social life and maintain social order, and giving play to the important role of the rule of law in promoting development, deepening reform, and advancing modernization, is the common experience of governance in China and abroad, ancient and modern.

　　Our Party's long-term practice in leading revolution, construction, and reform fully demonstrates that the rule of law is of great significance to reform, development, and stability, and to socialist modernization. When leading the drafting of the May Fourth Constitution, Comrade Mao Zedong once compared the Constitution to "tracks," pointing out: "Using the form of a fundamental law like the Constitution to fix people's democracy and the socialist principles, so that the people of the whole country have a clear track and feel that there is a clear, definite, and correct road to take." Regarding how to bring socialist modernization onto the track of the rule of law, our Party has led the people in unremitting exploration. Since reform and opening up, our Party has taken the rule of law as the basic way of governance, persisted in using rule-of-law thinking and rule-of-law methods to promote reform, amended the current Constitution five times, providing fundamental legal basis for reform and opening up and socialist modernization; continuously improved the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics with the Constitution at its core, compiled the Civil Code, improved the legal system of the socialist market economy, and promoted better adaptation of relations of production to productive forces, of the superstructure to the economic base, and of national governance to social development. Based on the practical exploration of advancing and expanding Chinese modernization, and summarizing the experiences and lessons of the rise and fall, order and chaos of various civilizations in human history, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly put forward important judgments such as "when the rule of law thrives, the country thrives; when the rule of law declines, the country falls into chaos" and "when institutions are stable, the country is stable; when institutions are strong, the country is strong," emphasizing that "throughout the entire reform process, we must attach great importance to using rule-of-law thinking and rule-of-law methods, and give play to the leading and driving role of the rule of law," "we must persist in advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity on the track of the rule of law," and "comprehensively build a modern socialist country on the track of the rule of law." Under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, we persist in comprehensively advancing the rule of law; the rule of law effectively guides, promotes, regulates, and safeguards the comprehensive deepening of reform, historic changes, systematic reshaping, and holistic reconstruction have been achieved in many fields, and our country has been pushed onto a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

　　History and reality inspire us that comprehensively deepening reform and comprehensively advancing the rule of law promote each other and complement each other. On the new journey, only by continuing to adhere to comprehensively advancing the rule of law, and further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization along the track of the rule of law, can we better transform institutional advantages into governance effectiveness. To achieve the general goal of further comprehensively deepening reform, and to further comprehensively deepen reform by focusing on building a high-level socialist market economy system, focusing on developing whole-process people's democracy, focusing on building a socialist cultural power, focusing on improving the quality of people's lives, focusing on building a beautiful China, focusing on building a higher-level Peaceful China, and focusing on improving the Party's leadership level and long-term governing capacity, all require the rule of law to provide rule guidance and institutional safeguards. We must deeply understand the strategic significance of taking adherence to comprehensively advancing the rule of law as a major principle for further comprehensively deepening reform, accurately grasp the scientific connotation and practical requirements of "the rule of law is an important safeguard for Chinese modernization" put forward at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, deepen reform in the legislative field, thoroughly advance law-based administration, improve the systems and mechanisms for fair law enforcement and justice, improve the mechanisms for advancing the construction of a law-based society, strengthen foreign-related rule of law construction, and use comprehensively advancing the rule of law to drive comprehensive deepening of reform to greater breadth and depth.

　　Focus on better leveraging the safeguarding role of the rule of law

　　Further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization is a complex systematic project. The deeper the reform goes and the further Chinese modernization advances, the greater the resistance and pressure encountered will be, the more complex the risks that need to be prevented and resolved will be, and the more important and urgent it will be to adhere to comprehensively advancing the rule of law. To adhere to comprehensively advancing the rule of law, deepen reform on the track of the rule of law, and advance Chinese modernization, we must persist in making the rule of law and reform exert force in the same direction, advance in sync, and promote each other, focusing on better leveraging the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term.

　　Provide support for always adhering to the correct direction in further comprehensively deepening reform. Direction determines the future, and the road determines destiny. The direction of reform is a fundamental issue. Ensuring the correct direction of further comprehensively deepening reform is an inevitable requirement for better leveraging the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Our reform and opening up has a direction, a stance, and principles. Of course we must hold high the banner of reform, but our reform is a reform that keeps advancing on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics; we will neither take the old road of isolation and rigidity nor the evil road of changing banners and flags." "We resolutely change what should be changed and can be changed; we resolutely do not change what should not be changed and cannot be changed." The general goal of further comprehensively deepening reform is to continue to improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, which points out the correct direction for further comprehensively deepening reform. Deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization on the track of the rule of law—the "rule of law" here is not some other "rule of law," but the rule of law of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Upholding Party leadership, upholding the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and implementing the theory of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics—these three aspects are the core essence of the road of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. To further comprehensively deepen reform along the track of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, we must build the foundation of the rule of law, exercise the power of the rule of law, and accumulate the momentum of the rule of law for upholding Party leadership and upholding the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and use the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics to ensure that all reform measures do not deviate, do not lose shape, and do not become distorted, and always continue to expand and deepen in the correct direction.

　　Provide safeguards for Chinese modernization to proceed steadily and far. Tracks not only support what is underfoot but also extend into the distance. Ensuring that Chinese modernization proceeds steadily and far is an inherent requirement of deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization on the track of the rule of law, and is a vivid manifestation of the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term. This requires that adherence to comprehensively advancing the rule of law be implemented throughout all aspects and the entire process of further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, embodied in all fields and links of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, and ecological civilization construction, and that we achieve gathering reform consensus through the rule of law, guiding the direction of reform through the rule of law, regulating the process of reform through the rule of law, resolving reform risks through the rule of law, and consolidating and expanding reform achievements through the rule of law, continuously enhancing the legitimacy and rationality, regularity and purposiveness of reform. We must deeply recognize that the demand of further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization for the rule of law is not temporary or local or individual, but all-dimensional, whole-process, and overall. Around consolidating fundamental systems, improving basic systems, and innovating important systems, the more than 300 reform measures proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, such as "improving the grassroots democracy system," "improving the income distribution system," "improving the ecological environment governance system," and "strengthening the coordination mechanism for national security work," mostly include content on establishing systems and mechanisms, and all need to be implemented through formulating rules and strictly enforcing the rule of law. To ensure that Chinese modernization proceeds steadily and far, we must systematically respond to the rule-of-law needs of further comprehensively deepening reform and comprehensively advance the rule of law in all aspects of national work.

　　Effectively achieve the unity of reform and the rule of law

　　Further comprehensively deepening reform must adhere to comprehensively advancing the rule of law; deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization on the track of the rule of law ultimately comes down to achieving the unity of reform and the rule of law, ensuring that major reforms are grounded in law and that reform achievements are promptly elevated to legal systems. Generally speaking, reform is "breaking" and the rule of law is "establishing"; how can the two be unified? General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Scientific legislation is an important link in handling the relationship between reform and the rule of law." To correctly handle the dialectical relationship between reform and the rule of law, realize the synchronized advancement of reform and the rule of law, and advance Chinese modernization in the unity of reform and the rule of law, the key is to grasp the important link of scientific legislation and achieve the unity and connection of reform decisions and legislative decisions.

　　Ensure that major reforms are grounded in law. We must safeguard the unity, dignity, and authority of the national rule of law, persist in advancing reform under the rule of law, and focus on ensuring that major reforms are grounded in law, achieving the simultaneous advancement of breaking and establishing, with establishing first and breaking afterward. This requires that legislation actively adapt to the needs of reform: when studying reform plans and reform measures, simultaneously consider the legislative issues involved in reform, promptly put forward legislative needs and legislative suggestions, list laws and regulations urgently needed for reform as legislative priorities and priority projects, and promptly formulate and timely amend laws involving further comprehensively deepening reform; fully reflect the direction, principles, and requirements of reform in legislation, clean up current laws and regulations that conflict with reform plans and no longer meet reform requirements, and promptly amend or repeal them, so that certain outdated laws and regulations or their individual provisions do not become a "stumbling block" to reform; for major reform measures whose practical conditions are not yet mature and which need to be piloted first and may break through current legal provisions, authorization must be made in accordance with statutory procedures; we must neither arbitrarily break through the red line of law nor simply delay reform on the grounds that current law has no basis.

　　Promptly elevate reform achievements to legal systems. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "With each step forward in the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the construction of the rule of law must follow one step further." Every successful reform is a successful institutional innovation; reform achievements are hard-won, and reform experience is worth summarizing. We must persist in improving the rule of law through reform, and with promptly elevating reform achievements to legal systems as the driving point, institutionalize and legalize reform achievements, and promote that our socialist rule of law continuously gathers the theoretical achievements and practical experience of the Party in governing the country, and always becomes the most basic, most stable, and most reliable safeguard of governance by institutions. Further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization place higher demands on the quality of legislation. At present, to promptly elevate reform achievements to legal systems, we must pay more attention to establishing good laws, continuously improve the quality of legislation, and use good laws to promote development and safeguard good governance. We must start from the supply side of legislation and thoroughly advance scientific legislation, democratic legislation, and legislation according to law. We must focus on using the power of the rule of law to consolidate and expand reform achievements, confirm proven and effective experience and practices in legal form, and make them behavioral norms that must be universally followed. We must deepen reform in the field of the rule of law, coordinate the advancement of reform in all links of legislation, law enforcement, justice, and law-abidingness, and run the belief in the rule of law, the authority of the rule of law, and the utility of the rule of law through and embody them in all practices of reform.