Abstract: The reform of China's social governance since the reform and opening up 40 years ago is not only a history of social growth, but also a civilized process of social progress. Over the past 40 years, profound changes have taken place in the form of social governance in China, gradually realizing the historical evolution from “social control” to “social management” and finally to “social governance”. The historical achievements of China's social governance reform have been all-round, multi-level and multi-field, which are embodied in five aspects: on the basis of maintaining social stability for a long time, social vitality has been released and enhanced unprecedentedly; on the basis of expanding the size of society, social quality has been improved and improved significantly; on the basis of vigorous efforts, social stability has been greatly enhanced; on the basis of the development of social undertakings, social equity is actively maintained and promoted; on the basis of expanding social participation, social autonomy is orderly promoted and developed; and on the basis of constantly optimizing social structure, social system is effectively rebuilt and improved. China has accumulated valuable experience in the reform of social governance. Standing at the new historical starting point, the task of social governance reform in the new era is still arduous and arduous. We should not only deal with the old problems left over by history, but also face the new problems emerging from the development of modernization. Strengthening the construction of social governance system, perfecting social governance system, improving the level of social governance, and creating a new pattern of social governance have become the urgent requirements of social governance reform in the new era.

Key words: social governance, social growth, civilized process, the reform and opening up