Abstract: Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,“China under rule of law”has been established as an important discourse of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Looking back at history, it can be found that this is another important development of the discourse of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics after the establishment of the discourse of“rule of law”, the return of the discourse of “socialist rule of law”, and its transformation into a“country under socialist rule of law”. On the basis of inheriting the existing discourse of the rule of law,“China under rule of law”has obvious subjectivity connotations in both practical and value dimensions, demonstrating the subjectivity consciousness of China’s rule of law construction in the new era. In this sense,“rule of law in China”constitutes the subjective innovation of the discourse of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics in the new era. This innovation is not only a theoretical logical conclusion, but also a practical need to solve the problem of the lack of subjectivity in China’s rule of law construction. The emergence of the subjectivity of“rule of law in China”requires adhering to the material production practice of China’s social and historical subjects as the starting point in the construction of the rule of law, insisting on the promotion of the construction of the rule of law in both form and substance, and persisting in the close integration of the inheritance of China’s excellent traditional legal culture with the contemporary China’s rule of law construction.

Key words: “a country under rule of law”, “China under rule of law”, the discourse of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, subjective innovation