High-quality population development is a necessary choice to adapt to the new situation of population development. It is an important support for the Chinese path to modernization, and an internal driver for high-quality economic and social development. Its fundamental purpose is to achieve comprehensive human development and common prosperity. Since the reform and opening up, with the changes in the principal contradictions between population development and economic and social progress, China’s population development strategy has evolved from “controlling quantity and improving quality” to “balanced development”, and now it is entering a new phase of shaping modern human resources through “high-quality population development”. High-quality population development represents the inheritance and innovation of Marx’s theory of “two kinds of production”, the deepening and enhancement of sustainable development theory, and the specific embodiment of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the field of population. However, there are still many challenges in supporting Chinese modernization with high-quality population development. The overall quality of the population needs to be further improved, and the international competitiveness of high-level talents is insufficient; the fertility rate continues to hit record lows, and the combination of sub-replacement fertility and negative population growth undermines the potential for sustainable population development; the overlap of longevity and aging poses risks to a potential decline in labor force participation rate; the differentiation between population growth and decline across regions has intensified, and the negative externalities of population mobility have become more prominent. To meet these challenges and promote high-quality population development, a systematic “policy package” covering the multiple dimensions of “quality-scale-structure-distribution” is urgently needed. Firstly, establish an all-dimensional quality cultivation system to comprehensively improve the overall quality of the population and activate the driving force for high-quality population development. Secondly, build a full-life-cycle policy system to promote the long-term balanced development of the population and accumulate potential for high-quality population development. Thirdly, implement a comprehensive employment-first policy to expand the effective labor supply of the whole society and tap into the demographic dividend. Finally, coordinate the relationships between population, economic and social development, resources and the environment to safeguard population security, forge a synergy for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and thereby comprehensively explore the practical approach of the “four-wheel-drive”.