In China today, President Xi Jinping’s new grand narrative is framed by the widely publicised ‘four comprehensives’ (四个全面; ‘sigequanmian’). This narrative aims to: 1. build a moderately prosperous society; 2. deepen reform; 3. govern the nation according to law, and 4. tighten Party discipline. It is essentially a political narrative that tells a moral tale that legitimizes and glorifies the virtues of the present. It also attempts to shrug off mistakes of the previous dynasty. Drawing on the legal disciplines of economic law, international comparative law and the a priori analytic method of legal narrative analysis, this paper provides a critical appraisal of the ‘four comprehensives’, paying special attention to how the four principal strands of the narrative shape the directions of China’s socialist rule of law reforms and governance.