Abstract: In specific situations national identity emerges and forms. The profound changes of economy, politics and culture in frontier society of contemporary China have profoundly changed not only its external form and internal structure, but also the social ecology of its governance as well as the situational foundation of national identity of its people. The society in the border areas is undergoing all-round and three-dimensional changes. The contradiction between the people's yearning for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development in the border areas is getting increasingly intense, which fundamentally changes the existing national identity situation of the people in the border areas. The tension brought by social changes constantly undermines the cohesion and centripetal force of the national identity of the frontier people, inducing various endogenous tensions, which, to a certain extent, weakens the existing national identity of the frontier people. When modernization of the border governance system and governance ability accelerate in the New Era, the border governance needs to continuously enhance the people's sense of acquisition, political consensus and cultural interaction in the border areas, so as to realize the remodeling of national identity in the process of social development.

Key words: frontier people, modernization of governance, national identity