The high-quality development of China's scientific, technical, and medical (STM) journals represents both a strategic response to national development goals and a historical responsibility shared by editors and researchers. This paper explores the foundational logic, developmental principles, and strategic objectives underlying this development. The analysis reveals that publishing high-level, original research is key to driving theoretical innovation and practical application, while internationalization is essential for enhancing academic influence and global communication. The high-quality development of China’s STM journals is grounded in the dynamic transformation of five key sets of contradictions that have shaped the evolution of the publishing system. The first is the shift from “non-existence” to “existence,” marking the foundational phase of establishing a domestic journal landscape. The second involves a transition from “insufficient quantity” to “structural imbalance,” where the focus moves from addressing scarcity to resolving disparities in content quality, subject distribution, and disciplinary representation. The third is the move from “import reliance” to “independent innovation,” emphasizing the need to foster original domestic research and reduce dependence on foreign academic output. The fourth is the shift from “passive adaptation” to “active leadership,” as journals evolve from simply following global trends to shaping scientific discourse. The fifth is the progression from “serving domestic needs” to “global dissemination,” reflecting China’s growing engagement in international academic communication. These transformations embody the central logic of journal development and reflect evolving priorities and practical challenges across different stages. To achieve high-quality growth, China’s STM journals must adhere to key principles: connotative development, prioritizing quality over quantity; recognition of unbalanced and inadequate development, requiring targeted structural improvements; and internationalization, aimed at enhancing global competitiveness and influence. Strategically, STM journals serve as crucial platforms to meet national science and technology needs and to elevate China's academic presence on the global stage. Their long-term value lies in their sustained impact on the academic ecosystem and the broader cultural fabric of science and scholarship. These dual dimensions—strategic relevance and long-term influence—indicate that the high-quality development of STM journals is not a short-term goal, but a long-term, forward-looking endeavor essential to strengthening China’s future innovation capacity and its voice in global academic dialogue. In conclusion, the high-quality development of China’s STM journals is both an urgent task and a strategic imperative. It addresses current academic and national needs while laying a crucial foundation for China's future position in international scientific innovation and academic discourse. Achieving this goal requires a comprehensive understanding of development dynamics, structural transformation, and long-term vision to ensure that China’s STM journals can play a leading role in shaping the global knowledge landscape.