Abstract:Peer review is the self-regulating mechanism of the scientific community and the core link of scientific quality control. The core operating mechanism of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is peer review, which is an important guarantee for the selection of high-quality projects. In order to promote the scientificity, objectivity, and impartiality of peer review, and steadily advance the reform and development of NSFC in the new era, this study analyzes the challenges of the current peer review mechanism of science foundation based on the review of the development of the peer review mechanism, and its advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, the challenges include the inability of the mechanism to meet the needs of catch-up development, the difficulty of the scale of the expert and management team to meet the increasing for project application quantity, the lack of object feedback in the expert review, and the need to optimize the selection of review experts, as well as the lack of monitoring means for the project review process. Accordingly, this study further proposes ideas of improving the peer review mechanism and establishing a "Responsibility, Credibility, Contribution" (RCC) supervision and evaluation system. This study not only clarifies the dynamic and scientific nature of this evaluation system, but also summarizes its potential use in optimizing the management of science foundation and improving the efficiency of project review, providing a theoretical basis for further promotion of the RCC supervision and evaluation system. This idea has been applied in the reform of the science foundation, and the results indicate that the direction of RCC reform is effective. This study further emphasizes the necessity to improve the system design, strengthen the monitoring of review quality, and create a culture of responsible review. It discusses the importance of improving the peer review mechanism of science foundation from multiple perspectives, points out the challenges and feasible development paths of the mechanism, and provides a certain basis for the further reform and development of the RCC supervision and evaluation system, which is of great significance to steadily promote the management of NSFC in the new era.