Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2018

The Reordering of Relations and the Formation of a National Governance Structure

(Abstract)

He Yanling

Different government documents often put the reordering of relations together with structural reform and functional transformation. Unless we understand these relationships and their reordering, we cannot understand China’s national governance system. The reordering of relationships has four dimensions: government and market, central and local governments, the economy and society, and government and society. The paths taken by this reordering can be divided into separation, preservation and delay. On the one hand, the conflicts between these paths has affected the structure of China’s national governance, so that it seeks a balance between closure and opening up; on the other, the course taken by the reordering of relations is rooted in the general and the modern demands that coexist within China’s national governance. It could be said that the straightening out of relations has recreated the distinctive features of this governance. In the course of continuous reordering, some of its important elements have undergone a crucial change. From the perspective of the reordering of relations, the open nature of the absorption of “relationships” into a larger system is crucial to the future transformation of China’s national governance.