Dear Reader,

China’s phenomenal achievements are well known. For more than three decades the country has demonstrated stable and impressive development, attracting the attention of researchers around the world. Undoubtedly, when speaking about China’s socio-economic accomplishments, it is essential to emphasize the crucial role of public administration in achieving these goals.

Recognising the importance of these, the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH) dedicated one of its journal issues back in 2016 to exploring the Chinese model of public administration. Yet, since then, the world and China itself have undergone profound transformations. In the current era of digital civilisation and artificial intelligence, China continues to remain at the forefront of scholarly interest and policy debate, serving as a valuable case for those examining different models of governance systems.

In light of these developments, the ACSH, in cooperation with the Chinese National Academy of Governance, has decided to publish a new Special Issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice devoted to China’s experience in governance. The issue brings together papers that analyse both the conceptual and practical dimensions of China’s development — from institutional reform and international cooperation to technological innovation, digital government, and the delivery of public services.

Like other publications of the ACSH, this issue combines practical perspectives with academic analysis. It is also worth noting that some of the authors are directly involved in the ongoing transformations currently taking place in China.

The article by Xuebin exemplifies the connection between Chinese modernisation and Chinese civilisation demonstrating their mutual reinforcement for the Chinese nation to shine with renewed radiance. The next article by Endong presents the principles of peaceful coexistence and how they provide insights for a normative framework to be assumed in contemporary international relations. Such principles could be included into the emerging agendas on global development, security and civilisation. Then, the article by Yuan articulates the significance of China’s People’s Congress system in achieving popular responsiveness, extensive political inclusion, and effective governance, thus balancing democratic responsiveness with efficient governance. The academic approach concludes with an article, by Lingjun, with an analysis of Xi Jinping’s Guidelines of the Party’s Self-Reform, which provide profound perspectives into how the Party and the country can advance further. 

To illustrate how China’s high aspirations can be realised, Zhicheng’s article explains the role of new quality productive forces and details how they can be fostered through high-standard opening up to achieve high-quality development. In a similar context, Zhibing’s article elaborates why scientific and technological innovation is considered a core element of the new quality productive forces. His article also analyses the specific features needed for new quality productive forces to evolve around sci-tech innovation. The, the article by Zhenhua exemplifies the need for strengthening independent innovation and refining mechanisms for talent cultivation and it reinforces the idea that technological innovation will contribute towards the enhancement of new quality productive forces.  

Another group of articles deals with some other, more specific issues such as disaster management, and risk mitigation frameworks, as well as data governance systems and public service mechanisms. Using a sound institutional framework to prevent and mitigate risks is presented in Kaibin’s article. Then, the global disaster risk assessment and their governance frameworks are examined and evaluated against the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, by Endong and Zihau; demonstrating the Chinese approach in improving regional disaster control resilience and emergency response capabilities.

China’s government data governance system, examined by Yanhong amid the explosive growth in data volumes, highlights the need to establish a collaborative governance mechanism that engages the government, enterprises, industry organisations, and the public in data governance. In turn, this Journal issue also explores how such advances in digital governance translate into better public services: the article by Zheyuan (from Party School of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) analyses how the development of digital government can enhance public service efficiency by formulating practical and feasible improvement strategies, including adopting innovative ideas, optimising organisational structures, and improving operational mechanisms. This material is intended not only as an overview but also as an analytical study aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the distinctive features of China’s contemporary development; hoping the readers will find both interesting and enlightening.

The Editorial Team