Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era covers a series of practical, theoretical and institutional innovations made by the Party since reform and opening up, and has rich connotations. The Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China clarified the scientific connotation of the path, theoretical system and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and their interconnections, and emphasized that the three should be unified in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is the most distinctive feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In contemporary China, to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics means to truly uphold socialism. To uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must clearly understand and scientifically answer such major questions as what Marxism is, how to deal with Marxism, what kind of socialism to build and how to build it, what kind of party to build and how to build it, and what kind of development to achieve and how to achieve it, both in theory and in practice. A thorough understanding of the scientific connotation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and its basic form.