This article is based on a presentation at the meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences on September 24, 2019. It analyzes new trends in the development of the People's Republic of China and emphasizes the need for updating approaches to study of the economic and political transformation of modern China. The decline in economic growth that is determined by the influence of domestic economic processes and aggravated by restrictions on exports to the United States has forced the Chinese leadership to pay increased attention to innovation and labor productivity. Awareness of the need for deepening market reforms and enhancing openness to the outside world is combined with a policy of supporting state-owned enterprises and the implementation of government economic programs. The recentralization of political power, re-ideologization of public life, and re-Sinifization of ideology and culture are highlighted as the key features of China's modern domestic policy. This article considers new trends in the development of social sciences and humanities related to the search for a new Chinese identity supported by the authorities.