As people often say， "The key to decoding China is to understand the Communist Party of China （CPC）." This book unravels a mystery garnering substantial interest： How has the CPC managed to run a big country like China and made such great achievements? It begins with "running a big country as you would cook a small fish， a famous quotation from Chinese philosopher Laozi， illustrating that the CPC has made it clear that the overall goal of deepening reform in every field is to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China's governance system and capacity for governance. Centering around this overall goal， the book then examines how the CPC has duly tackled the three basic issues of "who's to govern"， "what to govern" and "how to govern" while running the big country. It also concludes that the CPC is， in the process of reform， improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics， while building a corresponding governance system.

李君如（Li Junru） is a researcher and PhD supervisor who receives special government allowance from the State Council of China. He was Vice President of the Central Party School, a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC）, and a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee. Now he serves as Vice President of the China Society for Human Rights Studies （CSHRS） as well as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Research and Development of Marxist Theory. He has published dozens of books as well as hundreds of papers. He won the Second China Development Hundred People Award, as well as an award presented by UNAIDS for his special contribution to HIV/AIDS prevention, and the Australian Golden Kangaroo Award in 2008. He was honored as "Scholar of the Year Influencing China" in 2017.