Summary: The article calls for unwavering commitment to comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, emphasizing that this process must continue indefinitely. It urges full implementation of the Party's ideological and organizational requirements for the new era, with a focus on enhancing long-term governance capacity, maintaining purity, and preserving ties with the masses. The piece stresses the need to improve the Party's oversight system and prioritize political construction, while intensifying the fight against corruption as a sustained, overall battle. It aims to strengthen the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, organizational capacity, and social appeal, ensuring its role as the core leader in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. No specific official or reference to the United States or bilateral relations is mentioned.
Summary: The article, written by a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences academician, argues that China’s economy remained stable in the first half of 2026, with GDP growth of 4.7% within the target range, but faces structural supply-demand imbalances and "creative destruction" from AI-driven transformation. It says traditional countercyclical tools should be supplemented by more proactive fiscal and monetary policies, while raising the household consumption rate requires long-term "investment in people" through employment, income, and social protections. The author notes that new drivers such as high-end manufacturing and the digital economy now contribute over 40% of growth, yet structural employment pressures persist. On external demand, it points to global uncertainty and trade frictions, citing U.S. protectionism and its $1.24 trillion goods trade deficit in 2025 as a backdrop. The piece concludes that with proper policies, China can achieve better outcomes and meet its 2035 development goals.
Summary: The article reports on the recent issuance of the "Opinions on Strengthening Social Work in the New Era" by the CPC Central Committee and State Council, which mandates a people-centered approach and the implementation of the "Fengqiao Experience" to improve social governance. It cites President Xi Jinping's June inspection in Dezhou, Shandong, where he urged officials to enhance public service and address people's concerns to boost their sense of gain, happiness, and security. The document emphasizes integrating Party leadership with social work to address challenges from demographic shifts, new economic organizations, and digitalization. The author, identified as the head of Shandong Province's social work department and Party secretary of the province's "Two New" organizations, outlines provincial-level strategies to strengthen Party building in emerging sectors, grassroots governance, and volunteer services. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: In his address at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, President Xi Jinping stressed the need to reform the science and technology evaluation system, calling it a "baton" that guides innovation. He criticized persistent problems such as over-reliance on quantitative metrics like publications and titles, simplistic and utilitarian evaluation methods, and static assessments that label talent with permanent ranks. Xi urged a shift toward evaluating genuine innovation capacity, quality, and contribution, drawing on his own past experience in Zhengding County where he implemented a "talent nine articles" that recruited diverse talent regardless of background. He advocated for measures like "open competition" and "horse racing" mechanisms to let capable scientists lead, along with differentiated evaluation criteria for basic research, applied research, and technology transfer. The speech aimed to build a healthy research ecosystem that fosters dedication, integrity, and collaboration to accelerate China's goal of high-level technological self-reliance.
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Summary: The article explains China’s shift from an export-oriented development pattern to one with domestic circulation as the mainstay, driven by changing external conditions and the need for economic security. It notes that Xi Jinping proposed building a "new development pattern" of dual circulation, with domestic and international cycles reinforcing each other. The piece emphasizes that only by accelerating this transition can China leverage its large domestic market and cope with external uncertainties, including trade and technology wars led by the United States. It argues that the new pattern is essential to counter risks from US-led protectionism and ensure stable, self-reliant growth. The summary focuses on the strategic rationale and the allusions to U.S.-China tensions.
Summary: The article emphasizes that Party officials must cultivate a correct view of their work as a lifelong mission rather than a mere job, as instructed by Xi Jinping. It stresses the need to align personal goals with the Party’s cause, develop political and professional competencies, and maintain perseverance. The piece also calls for selfless dedication, prioritizing the people’s interests, and avoiding fame or personal gain. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: President Xi Jinping emphasized that cities should be treated as "organic living organisms," a concept he first introduced in 1991, guiding urban development as a dynamic, self-regulating system. He called for respecting each city's unique growth patterns, promoting innovation-driven vitality, and prioritizing people-centered public services to enhance residents' well-being. Xi stressed the need for green, sustainable urban ecosystems and robust safety infrastructure to mitigate risks. He also highlighted the importance of cultural heritage and civilized spirit to endow cities with distinct character, while improving governance through smart technology and fine-tuned management. The article alludes to leveraging domestic and international dual circulation to optimize urban structures, though it does not directly address U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Wang Guowei's 1917 essay "On the Institutions of Yin and Zhou" argued that the ancient Chinese state was not merely a political mechanism but also a moral pivot, directly challenging Max Weber's contemporaneous definition of the state as a monopoly on legitimate violence. The article contends that Wang's concept, rooted in the ritual-music tradition, has been persistently marginalized by Western-centric theories that frame statehood through power and contract, as seen in Francis Fukuyama's focus on the "Zhou-Qin transition." It emphasizes that China's "three thousand years of rule by ritual" remained continuous, with the moral core of statehood evolving through various institutional forms without being severed. The author suggests that this traditional political philosophy—integrating personal ethics, social morality, and governance—now underpins the endogenous dynamism of Chinese-style modernization and could inform global governance solutions. The piece does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article traces the historical evolution of the county (县) as China's most stable administrative unit, originating in the Spring and Autumn period and standardized under the Qin dynasty. It details how the county system persisted through successive dynasties, with variations in structure and number, and notes its role in tax collection, administration, and social order. The piece highlights the term's etymological roots in suspension and central control, distinguishing it from feudal fiefs. It also describes modern changes under the People's Republic, including adjustments for economic needs and urbanization, which have reduced the number of counties. Finally, it emphasizes the county's enduring importance as a key node in grassroots governance, especially amid digital and systemic transformations.
Summary: The article discusses Timbuktu's historical role as a major center for manuscript production and scholarship from the 14th to 16th centuries, sustained by a network of scholars, scribes, and private libraries. It highlights that private family collections, such as the Fondo Kati Library, form the core of Timbuktu's manuscript heritage, with over 20,000 items now accessible. Following destruction during the 2012 conflict, manuscripts were secretly evacuated to Bamako, and subsequent preservation efforts involve digitization and international collaboration with institutions like Hamburg University and the British Library. The piece underscores that Timbuktu's library civilization is defined by social practices of writing, collecting, teaching, and rescuing texts, rather than physical buildings. No U.S. or China references appear in the article.
Summary: The article interprets President Xi Jinping's directive that mass work must adapt to increasingly diverse objects, demands, and environments. Liu Xiaochang, head of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions' Labor and Economic Work Department, and Sun Lin, a professor at the Central Party School, analyze how these changes require precise identification of varied social groups, proactive responses to rising expectations for fairness and public services, and integration of online-offline methods. The analysis highlights challenges from digital transformation, social mobility, and complex ideological influences, while stressing the need for targeted, systemic approaches to maintain Party-mass relations. No mention of the United States or U.S.-China relations appears in the text.
Summary: The article, authored by the Yangpu District Party Secretary, outlines the need to integrate education, science, and talent as fundamental supports for Chinese-style modernization, citing President Xi Jinping’s guiding principles. It emphasizes strengthening Party leadership to break down sectoral silos and build coordinated mechanisms across these three pillars. The piece advocates for high-level innovation platforms to align supply and demand, along with improved allocation of financial, data, and spatial resources to foster a holistic ecosystem. It calls for aligning talent cultivation and technological innovation with industrial needs to develop new quality productive forces. The article does not discuss the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: A Chinese Academy of Social Sciences analyst assesses that China’s 2026 growth remains in a reasonable range, with上半年 GDP at 4.7%, but argues the main challenge is structural “supply strong, demand weak” tension rather than cyclical downturn. The piece highlights new momentum from AI and high-end manufacturing, while noting persistent structural employment pressure and the need for stronger consumption. It urges combining proactive fiscal and moderately loose monetary policy with “investment in people” to raise the household consumption rate. On external trade, it cites global slowdown and U.S. protectionism—noting the U.S. ran a $1.24 trillion goods trade deficit in 2025—as headwinds for Chinese exports. The author concludes that reforms, social security, and basic public services can unlock domestic demand and help meet 2035 goals.
Summary: The article outlines the “Modern Emergency Response System 15th Five-Year Plan,” emphasizing a shift from reactive response to pre-disaster prevention as the core governance model. It aims to enhance disaster mitigation, resilience, and relief capabilities to curb major accidents and reduce natural disaster losses. The plan sets a target for 2030 to effectively establish a prevention-oriented governance system. The discussion appeared in the high-end think tank section of *Study Times*, focusing on accelerating this transformation. No specific officials or U.S.-related references were included.
Summary: The article, authored by a deputy dean from the Central Party School's Emergency Management Research Institute, outlines the strategic need for China to shift its emergency management model from passive response to proactive prevention during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. It identifies four key tasks: strengthening source control mechanisms, enhancing monitoring and early warning, improving intrinsic safety levels, and building resilient urban and rural areas. The piece highlights persistent challenges, including natural disaster risks, industrial safety lapses, and systemic issues like illegal subcontracting in construction, citing major accidents from 2021 to 2025. It calls for comprehensive reforms, including whole-lifecycle management of safety infrastructure, clearer risk classification, and greater investment in preventive measures at the grassroots level. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The State Council released the "15th Five-Year Plan for Modernizing the Emergency Response System," aiming to shift governance from post-disaster response to pre-disaster prevention by 2030. The article, quoting Xi Jinping, argues this transition is necessary because modern systemic, cascading risks—such as extreme weather and infrastructure vulnerabilities—make reactive management costly and ineffective. It emphasizes moving from "event-centered" to "risk-centered" governance through early source control, real-time monitoring, and grassroots capacity building. Key measures include integrating AI for predictive analytics, tightening safety standards in high-risk industries, and embedding resilience into urban planning. The plan calls for coordinated action across party committees, governments, enterprises, and the public to achieve a fundamental shift from "rescue after the fact" to "prevention before the fact."
Summary: The article analyzes how unmanned systems are transforming modern warfare through three structural shifts: from quantity-based to systematic deployment, from auxiliary to pivotal roles, and from equipment clusters to task-chain organization. These changes create advantages via tempo reshaping, which compresses decision-action cycles; cost-consumable dynamics that enable sustained high-tempo operations; and link resilience, allowing continued performance under disruption. The author argues that future combat effectiveness depends not on individual platform specs but on the stability and efficiency of the unmanned system within the broader operational architecture. No U.S. or U.S.-China relations are discussed.
Summary: The article describes the history of a Zero fighter aircraft displayed at the Chinese Aviation Museum, detailing its role as a key Japanese侵略 weapon during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It highlights the aircraft's technical advantages, which enabled devastating attacks on Chinese forces, including the 1940 Battle of Bishan where China lost 24 planes. The article notes that the arrival of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) with P-40s began to break the Zero's dominance, and later U.S. P-51 Mustangs further shifted the air balance. After Japan's defeat, some Zero wreckage was used by the early People's Liberation Army Air Force for training, though maintenance issues limited its use. The narrative concludes that the Zero's fate reflects the inevitable defeat of unjust aggression.
Summary: The article reports on the Central Committee and State Council's issuance of the "Opinions on Strengthening Social Work in the New Era," which emphasizes a people-centered approach, the "Fengqiao experience," and improved social governance. It quotes President Xi Jinping's June inspection of Dezhou, Shandong, where he urged officials to enhance public service and sense of responsibility. The document addresses challenges from demographic shifts, new economic organizations, and technology, aiming to strengthen the Party's social foundation. The author, head of Shandong's social work department, calls for integrating the Opinions with Xi's directives to advance social work with greater commitment and innovation.
Summary: The party committee of China Huadian Guizhou Qianyuan Electric Power Co., Ltd. constructed a “three-level linkage, three-oriented concretization, five-set empowerment” party-building system to shift from periphery to core integration with business operations. The system establishes a top-down execution chain with secretaries assuming primary responsibility, branch committees coordinating, and party members spearheading攻坚 tasks. It implements standardized, quantifiable standards through task checklists, specific functional embedding, and routine performance evaluation. A “five-set” mechanism—defining projects, targets, measures, timelines, and responsible entities—links party-building responsibilities to business indicators like power generation and defect rectification rates. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article details Fuyang City Tobacco Monopoly Bureau’s implementation of a "four-level, five-dimension" annual performance appraisal system starting in 2025, aimed at overcoming egalitarianism and inaccurate evaluations. The system, developed by leadership and departmental units, categorizes assessments into party building, target performance, special tasks, management innovation, and competitive advancement. Reported outcomes include record revenue exceeding 90 billion yuan, strengthened party building, and 29 provincial-level innovation awards. The article also outlines key principles for successful performance management, such as unified thinking, objectivity, focus, flexibility, and balancing efficiency with fairness. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Bao'an District in Shenzhen is embedding "red culture" (revolutionary heritage) into digital economy, grassroots governance, and city branding to implement the 20th Fourth Plenum's call for cultural empowerment of economic development and Shenzhen's 15th Five-Year Plan goal of becoming a "culturally strong city." It has developed a red digital creative industry cluster—including VR experiences and digital collectibles—and a "big data plus iron feet" governance model that boosted consumer dispute resolution satisfaction to 98.5%. Over 100,000 "red vest" volunteer teams and 1,057 service stations for gig workers have turned new employment groups into grassroots governance participants. A "Red Footprints" tourism route and APEC-linked branding attracted 50+ APEC enterprises in 2026, while red education reached over 200,000 students and thousands of firms. The district's approach transforms static red resources into dynamic assets, avoiding formalism by precisely embedding them into industrial, governance, and international branding scenarios.
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Firmly maintaining confidence and continuing the struggle, we must persistently advance the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is always on the way. On the new journey, we must comprehensively implement the Party building thought for the new era, implement the general requirements for Party building in the new era, focus on improving the Party's long-term governance capability, maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity, and maintaining the Party's flesh-and-blood connection with the masses of the people, perfect the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, take the Party's political construction as the guide to strengthen all aspects of Party building, resolutely fight the battle against corruption — the tough battle, the protracted battle, the overall battle — continuously enhance the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, and ensure that the Party, in the historical process of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, always becomes the strong leading core.
Return to TopBy: 蔡昉
In the first half of 2026, China's economic growth and operation continued the development trend of overall stability, momentum shifting toward the new, and structure improving, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. Major macroeconomic indicators remained within a reasonable range, while also showing structural adjustments and an intensifying trend of creative destruction. Overall, the Chinese economy has not been troubled by cyclical fluctuation problems, but it needs to address many problems and challenges of development, transformation, and structure. Facing a complex and volatile external environment, as well as the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in the midst of the domestic growth model transformation, implementing a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately accommodative monetary policy, fully leveraging the effectiveness of various existing policies, promptly planning and introducing practical and effective incremental policies, strengthening counter-cyclical adjustment, intensifying efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply, the Chinese economy can fully strive for better results on the basis of remaining within a reasonable range, and move forward smoothly toward the goals of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan (十五五) and 2035.
The supply side is in a reasonable range for the macroeconomy
The Chinese economy is in a virtuous cycle of stable operation, moving toward the new and toward improvement. In the first quarter of 2026, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate reached 5.0%, and for the first half of the year it was 4.7%, comfortably within the 4.5%–5.0% speed range set at the beginning of the year. Moreover, this speed is also in line with the estimated potential growth rate, meeting the growth rate requirement for per capita GDP to become a moderately developed country by 2035. Achieving this ambitious goal requires per capita GDP to at least double from the 2020 baseline of US$10,627. From another perspective, according to the World Bank classification standard, entering the middle third of high-income countries requires per capita GDP to cross the threshold level of approximately US$22,000–24,000. On the basis that per capita GDP in 2025 has already reached US$13,863 at constant 2020 prices, per capita GDP needs to achieve an average annual real growth of 4.4%. Since China's population has entered a stage of declining development, the total GDP growth rate only needs to be 4.2%. Considering the factor supply and total factor productivity growth in the context of aging, to achieve the goal that "per capita GDP reaches the level of moderately developed countries," working backward from the long-term goal of doubling compared to 2020 (at constant 2020 prices), GDP needs to grow at an average annual rate of 4.17% during the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan and Sixteenth Five-Year Plan (十六五) periods. This means that the current growth rate can ensure the expected goal is met. At the same time, considering that reforms in key areas can accelerate total factor productivity growth, the release of reform dividends can help the economy achieve better results. Beyond the reform dividends from institutional mechanisms, a greater increase in total factor productivity is expected to come from the new round of technological revolution represented by artificial intelligence. The new technologies, new fields, and new industries driven by artificial intelligence, as well as the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries, have already accelerated the conversion of old and new driving forces. According to estimates by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2026, new driving forces represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital and intelligent economy, and modern services contributed more than 40% to economic growth.
Generally speaking, when the actual growth rate is consistent with the potential growth rate, the actual unemployment rate is roughly at the natural unemployment rate level, which in macroeconomic terms is the state of full employment. That is to say, corresponding to economic growth being in a reasonable range, the labor market is also on a normal track, with the unemployment rate only reflecting structural problems, accompanied by customary seasonal fluctuations, without cyclical unemployment. The average surveyed urban unemployment rate for the whole of 2025 and the first half of 2026 was 5.2%, exactly matching the natural unemployment rate estimated by academia. It can be seen that neither the surveyed urban unemployment rate nor the youth unemployment rate has shown unusual fluctuations; they only reflect mismatches in the labor market, or structural employment contradictions. This contradiction is the result of accelerated technological change and industrial restructuring, and is amplified by the application of artificial intelligence, manifested in the simultaneous occurrence of job creation and job substitution, the persistent existence of structural contradictions, the normalization of new employment forms, and the employment difficulties faced by youth and older workers.
The "three carriages" of demand are forming a new balance
The stability and sustainability of economic growth need to be supported by both supply-side and demand-side factors. As the effectiveness of the conversion of growth driving forces becomes increasingly apparent, and with both potential growth capacity and actual growth performing strongly, the constraining factors on China's economic growth are gradually shifting to the demand side. At the same time, among the "three carriages" of demand factors — net exports of goods and services, capital formation (investment), and final consumption — a new balance is taking shape. The aggregate social demand driving economic growth maintains sufficient resilience, and sustainability is also strengthening, while shortcomings and blockages still exist. To understand the macroeconomic situation and find breakthroughs to effectively break through bottleneck constraints, it is necessary to fully understand the current state and trends of the demand side.
From the perspective of external demand, in the first half of 2026, China's exports and imports were both very strong, highlighting the new comparative advantages that the Chinese economy is forming. At the same time, affected by military conflicts, geopolitics, and trade frictions, the world economy shows weakness and uncertainty, becoming an unfavorable external factor. The International Monetary Fund's forecast for world economic growth in 2026 is significantly lower than the 3.5% in 2025; the January forecast was 3.3%, revised down to 3.1% in April, and further revised down to 3.0% in July. China, as the world's second-largest economy and largest goods trader, has exports constrained both by world economic growth and trade patterns, as well as by trade frictions created by certain countries. According to the World Bank's balance-of-payments-based calculation, China's goods trade surplus reached US$1.06 trillion in 2025, while the United States, which consistently blames other countries for its own economic problems and continuously creates trade frictions, had a goods trade deficit as high as US$1.24 trillion. From this it is not difficult to foresee the trade protectionist stance and actions that the United States will take.
From the perspective of investment demand, with the transformation of the development model and the conversion of growth driving forces, significant results have been achieved in forming new quality productive forces, cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, and comprehensively rectifying "involution-style" competition, which are reflected in the optimizing trend of the investment structure. For example, in the first half of 2026, in the manufacturing of aerospace vehicles and equipment, electronic and communication equipment manufacturing, artificial-intelligence-related integrated circuit manufacturing, intelligent vehicle-mounted equipment manufacturing, green transformation, and industries related to enhancing resilience, both the amount of investment and the growth of value added have become bright spots, marking the accelerated formation of new driving forces represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital and intelligent economy, and modern services. It must also be noted that, under the circumstances of the disappearance of the traditional demographic dividend and the slowdown of total factor productivity growth, large-scale investment to maintain labor productivity growth will lead to the phenomenon of diminishing returns on capital, with a corresponding decline in the rate of return on investment, resulting in weak investment willingness and actual growth decline. It is urgent to activate more sustainable demand factors to support economic growth.
From the perspective of final consumption, resident consumption also displays structural adjustment characteristics such as form transformation, making up for shortcomings, and opening up new sources, manifested in the market as relatively fast growth in online retail, rural retail, and service retail. At the same time, the consumer price index has rebounded somewhat, also signaling an improvement in expectations and confidence. The digital and intelligent economy, with higher quality and faster services, brings consumers new feelings and experiences of products or services. Although some of these have not yet been translated into price increases or expenditure increases, they enhance consumption satisfaction in the form of consumer surplus. Due to factors such as the fading effect of previous subsidy policies and the incomplete adjustment of the consumption structure, consumption growth as represented by total retail sales of consumer goods is not yet strong enough. In other words, among the "three carriages," resident consumption has not yet taken on the major role of supporting economic growth from the demand side.
Understanding old problems and new challenges in development
The Chinese economy, having entered a higher stage of development, is experiencing an accelerating conversion of old and new driving forces and is facing more problems of transformation and development. The long-standing problem of strong supply and weak demand not only persists but also has new manifestations in the new context. For example, artificial intelligence models and tools are emerging one after another, affecting labor productivity, business models, the labor market, and many other aspects, presenting new challenges on both the supply and demand sides. To proactively respond to new challenges, it is necessary both to fully utilize the creative destruction mechanism to promote the formation of new quality productive forces, and to avoid the impact of structural adjustments on employment and residents' livelihoods. The general principle is that while enterprises are inevitably subject to survival of the fittest, workers should not be divided into winners and losers.
When understanding the economic situation from the supply side, one should see not only the accelerated formation of new driving forces but also the accelerated disappearance of old driving forces. This structural adjustment is an inevitable process in the formation of new quality productive forces; ultimately, it will manifest in the stock of production capacity as the ebb and flow of new and old, and in the increment of production capacity as a differentiation between strong and weak. This inevitably leads to a deepening of structural employment contradictions. While old problems are constantly being addressed, new challenges also appear. The disruptive breakthroughs and widespread application of artificial intelligence will also bring more severe problems of creative destruction, urgently requiring the creation of institutional arrangements to promote job creation and strengthen social security, ensuring that the dividends of labor productivity are shared equally.
When understanding the economic situation from the demand side, one should see both the urgency of accelerating the structural transformation of the "three carriages" and the fact that raising the resident consumption rate is a task that requires comprehensive policy implementation and persistent effort over time (久久为功 - jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - "persist for a long time to achieve success"). Statistically and economically, the share of resident consumption in GDP (the consumption rate) and the contribution rate of consumption to GDP growth are not the same thing. The purpose of conventional counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies is, when one demand factor is impacted, to adopt appropriate policies to mobilize other demand factors, so as to ensure that economic growth does not slow down due to insufficient aggregate demand. Since the resident consumption rate is affected by more long-term factors — for example, this indicator shows a significant positive correlation with the share of resident income and the share of labor compensation, with correlation coefficients of 0.89 and 0.76, respectively — this indicator will not automatically increase as the contribution rates of exports and investment decline. It must be cultivated as a capability through substantive investment.
Using "invest in people" (投资于人) to break the pattern of strong supply and weak demand
Breaking the pattern of strong supply and weak demand requires not only counter-cyclical macroeconomic policy adjustments but also going beyond short-term and single instruments, enriching and opening up the policy toolbox, and integrating various policy concepts and implementation means. To raise the resident consumption rate, we should start from both consumption capacity and willingness, unifying macroeconomic policy, industrial policy, social policy, etc. under a common goal, and leveraging their respective unique advantages. The successful practice of ensuring and improving people's livelihoods in the course of development shows that implementing the concept of shared development and substantially increasing the intensity of investing in people is expected to significantly raise the resident consumption rate. For example, precisely because of the strengthened intensity of investment in people, while the average consumption rates of high-income countries and upper-middle-income countries decreased, China's resident consumption rate rose from 34.9% to 40.0% during the period 2010–2025; approximately during the same period (2010–2024), the share of China's GDP used for labor compensation, social insurance benefits, social subsidies, and other such expenditures significantly increased from 52.6% to 61.2%.
Expanding employment, increasing income, and stabilizing expectations form a trinity that constitutes the foundation and long-term mechanism for expanding resident consumption. Because changes in the industrial structure continuously alter employment forms, job types, and skill requirements, structural employment contradictions are not only a normal state but are also amplified by the penetration of artificial intelligence. Therefore, proactive employment policies also need to form an upgraded version. Through rights protection, skills upgrading, and matching improvement, we can stabilize the quantity of employment and improve its quality, thereby increasing residents' income. In addition, increasing income and improving distribution are mutually reinforcing requirements. While increasing labor compensation through the human resources market, it is also necessary to narrow income gaps through primary distribution and redistribution. Sharing the dividends of modernization and artificial intelligence through institutional construction has the effect of stabilizing expectations, and thereby enhancing consumption capacity and willingness.
Both the common features of modernization and China's national conditions indicate that implementing redistribution at a higher stage of development usually takes the form of raising the level and equalization of basic public service supply. As per capita income levels rise, the increase in quantity, improvement in level, and expansion in scope of public goods supply is a universal law. China is about to cross into the ranks of high-income countries as measured by per capita GDP, and is only one step away from the goal of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. The improvement of quality of life will require more to be met by high-quality basic public services. China will also continue to be accompanied by demographic changes marked by declining birthrates and aging. Implementing population support policies covering the entire population and the whole life cycle is highly consistent with building a basic public service system in terms of both goals and means. In this process, the livelihood challenges and productivity opportunities that accompany artificial intelligence require, on the one hand, significantly enhancing the inclusiveness, basic coverage, and safety-net role of basic public services, and, on the other hand, providing them with stronger national financial support.
The increase in the resident consumption rate must be achieved at a higher level of balance between supply and demand. From the supply side, we should make good use of various means created by internet platforms and artificial intelligence models to provide more high-quality products and services, transform technological dividends into a huge consumer market, and create a better consumption experience to expand "consumer surplus." From the demand side, on the one hand, with the increase in residents' income and the improvement of income distribution, we should gradually upgrade demand for ordinary goods with low demand elasticity to demand for high-quality goods with greater demand elasticity, unlocking huge demand potential; on the other hand, with the development of declining birthrates and aging, new basic demands represented by "the elderly and the young" (一老一小) will still emerge, creating the possibility of a structurally super-large market. We must do a good job in service guarantees for "the elderly and the young" and improve the stratified and classified social assistance system. The good combination of supply and demand sides requires comprehensively using policy instruments to achieve practical results in implementing "investing in people."
(The author is a member of the Academic Division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院学部委员))
Return to TopBy: 杨原田
Social work is an important component of the work of the Party and the state, bearing on the Party's long-term governance and the enduring peace and stability of the country, and bearing on social harmony and stability as well as the people's well-being and happiness. Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening Social Work in the New Era" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), making comprehensive and systematic deployments for social work, setting the direction, the thinking, and the tasks for high-quality development of social work, which is of great and far-reaching significance. The "Opinions" emphasize "adhering to a people-centered approach, following the Party's mass line in the new era, upholding and developing the 'Fengqiao Experience' in the new era, and perfecting the social governance system of joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits," profoundly containing the inherent logic between practicing the Party's fundamental purpose and doing a good job in social work in the new era. In June this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping, during his inspection in Dezhou, Shandong, stressed, "The vast number of Party members and cadres must strengthen their sense of public service, cultivate deep feelings for the people, do more good deeds, practical things, and solve difficult problems for the people, and truly enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security." We must deeply understand and fully implement the requirements of the "Opinions," integrating them with the thorough implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during his inspection of Shandong, and with greater dedication, higher positioning, and more concrete measures, strive to create a new situation of high-quality development of social work in the new era.
Establish a firm people-centered development thought, and enhance the sense of responsibility and mission for doing a good job in social work in the new era
The main targets of social work are various types of organizations and groups in the social field, which have the most direct relationship with the masses and the closest connection with the masses. Only by adhering to a people-centered development thought, focusing on solving the most concerned, most direct, and most realistic interests of the people, and continuously enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, can we find the starting point and落脚点 (luòjiǎo diǎn - "footing point," purpose and goal) of social work.
Deeply understand the significant significance of strengthening social work in the new era. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has accurately grasped the laws of social operation and governance, put forward a series of new thoughts, new viewpoints, and new judgments on why and how to strengthen social work in the new era, and continuously promoted new achievements in social work in the new era. The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and exerting full efforts to basically realize socialist modernization, and it is also a period of coexistence of strategic opportunities and risk challenges, with increasing uncertain and unpredictable factors. At present, the world's百年变局 (bǎi nián biàn jú - "century-old changes," major transformations unseen in a century) is accelerating, many risk hazards are manifesting in the social field, China's population structure is undergoing profound changes, new economic organizations and new social organizations are emerging in large numbers, the scale of new employment groups continues to expand, the interest demands of different social groups are becoming more diverse, and the people's expectations for a better life have shifted from "whether there is or not" to "whether it is good or not," with growing demands in areas such as democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and environment. At the same time, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, platform economy, digital economy, etc., all pose new requirements for social work. Strengthening social work is of great significance for practicing the Party's fundamental purpose on the new journey, consolidating the grassroots foundation of national governance, better凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," unite) and serve the masses, and maintaining social harmony and stability. The issuance of the "Opinions" is an active adaptation and realistic response to the current conditions of the world, the country, and the Party. The social work system must deeply grasp the new situation and new tasks, keep in mind the "greatest concerns of the country," seize opportunities, meet challenges, and with a strong sense of historical responsibility and mission, earnestly fulfill their duties and missions.
Deeply understand that adhering to the supremacy of the people is the unchanging value pursuit of our Party in establishing, prospering, and strengthening the Party. The affinity with the people is the essential attribute of Marxism, and the people's standpoint is the fundamental political stance of the Communist Party of China. From the day of its birth, our Party has been the faithful representative of the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. The vigorous development of social work in the new era lies in the continuous enhancement of the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal in the field of social work, playing an important role in expanding social participation, coordinating social interests, preventing social risks, resolving social contradictions, and maintaining social stability, continuously stimulating social creativity and vitality, uniting and rallying social organizations and the masses, fully demonstrating the unique advantages of the socialist social governance path with Chinese characteristics. Practice has fully proved that the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for doing a good job in social work. On the new journey of the new era, we must adhere to and strengthen the Party's overall leadership over social work, ensure that the Party's theories, lines, principles, and policies are implemented in all areas, aspects, and links of social work, and lead various types of organizations and groups in the social field to rally closely around the Party, truly transforming the Party's political and organizational advantages into social governance effectiveness.
Deeply grasp that the people are the creators of history, the source of reform's strength, and the foundation of its success. To fully build a modern socialist country, the people are the decisive force. We must firmly rely on the people, gather the infinite wisdom and strength contained within the people, in order to continuously create new historical achievements. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, from upholding and developing the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era, to inheriting and promoting the fine tradition of "四下基层" (sì xià jī céng - "four down to grassroots," referring to leadership going down to the grassroots to promote propaganda, investigation, reception of letters and visits, and on-site offices), to promoting practices such as Party-building-led "immediate response to complaints," these effective social governance experiences are vivid manifestations of the unity of the Party and the people and joint innovation. On the new journey of Chinese-style modernization, the more arduous the task of further comprehensively deepening reforms, the more we must stand firm on the people's side, the more we must widely凝聚人心 (níng jù rén xīn - "coagulate people's hearts," rally popular support),凝聚共识 (níng jù gòng shí - "coagulate consensus," build consensus),凝聚智慧 (níng jù zhì huì - "coagulate wisdom," pool wisdom), and凝聚力量 (níng jù lì liàng - "coagulate strength," gather strength), fully stimulate the people's initiative, creativity, and activity, guide all parties to orderly participate in social governance, and maximize the凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," unite) of strength for common struggle. Only in this way can we provide strong momentum for high-quality economic and social development, continuously turn the people's longing for a better life into reality, and gather the mighty force for building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation.
Adhere to systematic thinking and scientific methods, and promote new breakthroughs in social work
Social work serves the broad masses of the people, consolidates the Party's governing foundation, maintains social security and stability, and is related to the overall strategy of modernizing the national governance system and governance capacity. Standing firm on the people's side and cultivating deep feelings for the people is both a value concept and a methodology. It requires adhering to systematic thinking, using scientific methods, and finding effective paths to promote high-quality development of social work.
Balance vitality and order, promoting a society that is both vibrant and well-ordered. A modern society should be both full of vitality and have good order, presenting an organic unity of vitality and order. This requires us to grasp the characteristics and laws of mass work under the new situation, innovate mechanisms for凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," uniting), organizing, and mobilizing the masses, explore effective paths to achieve joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits, and continuously activate the endogenous momentum of social governance. Improve the urban-rural grassroots governance system under the leadership of Party organizations, combining autonomy, rule of law, and rule of virtue, perfect mechanisms such as democratic consultation, group-led, and social participation, and mobilize various organizations and the masses to participate in grassroots governance practice. Ensure that the people enjoy democratic rights and development rights in accordance with the law, effectively utilize the role of village regulations and居民公约 (jū mín gōng yuē - "residents' covenants," community compacts), educate and guide the masses to follow public order and good customs, respect the law, learn the law, abide by the law, and use the law. Fully draw on the social governance wisdom from excellent traditional Chinese culture such as 亲仁善邻 (qīn rén shàn lín - "be close to benevolence and be kind to neighbors," fostering amicable relations with neighbors) and 讲信修睦 (jiǎng xìn xiū mù - "uphold trust and cultivate harmony," promoting trust and harmony), promote new trends of the times, and advance the transformation of customs. Improve the mechanism for coordinating the interests of the masses, raise the level of public services, maintain social fairness and justice, and build a social governance community where everyone is responsible, everyone fulfills their responsibilities, and everyone enjoys the benefits.
Strengthen service and management, continuously consolidate the Party's class foundation, mass foundation, and social foundation for governance. Service management for various social groups is an important task of social governance. We must organically integrate ideological and political guidance, service management, protection of legitimate rights and interests, and other work, effectively solving the most concerned, most direct, and most realistic interest problems of the masses. Persist in using Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to凝聚人心 (níng jù rén xīn - "coagulate people's hearts," unite people's hearts) and forge souls, promote the Party's innovative theories into villages, communities, enterprises, new economic organizations and new social organizations, and new employment groups, tightly uniting and凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," rallying) the masses around the Party. Promote the core socialist values, stimulate positive energy of upward and virtuousness in the whole society, and cultivate a social mentality that is self-respecting, confident, rational, peaceful, and positive. Strengthen care services, explore learning and education methods that combine online and offline, are segmented and targeted, combine solving ideological problems with solving practical difficulties, and improve the pertinence and effectiveness of work. Coordinate to solve the common expectations and personalized concerns of different groups, around issues such as labor remuneration, skills training, labor safety, social insurance, platform algorithms, and other urgent and difficult problems of the masses, protect legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law, and build harmonious labor relations.
Coordinate development and security, promoting positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security through efficient governance. High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, and it is a general requirement for all aspects of economic and social development. Security is the prerequisite for development, and development is the guarantee of security. Efficient governance lays a solid foundation for the mutual promotion of high-quality development and high-level security. Governing the country and securing the peace, the focus is on the grassroots. We must establish a clear orientation of vigorously focusing on the grassroots, promote the下沉 (xià chén - "sink down," downward transfer) of resources, services, management, etc., to the front line, ensuring that grassroots Party organizations have the resources and ability to do practical things for the masses. Highlight Party-building leadership, improve the Party's grassroots organizational system and working mechanisms, play the role of grassroots Party organizations as战斗堡垒 (zhàn dòu bǎo lěi - "fighting fortresses," battle fortresses) and the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members, effectively achieve full coverage of the Party's organizations and work, strengthen political functions and organizational functions, and promote the institutionalization, normalization, and long-term effectiveness of serving the masses. Shoulder the major political responsibility of maintaining security in the field of social work, adhere to底线思维 (dǐ xiàn sī wéi - "bottom-line thinking," worst-case-scenario thinking), enhance awareness of potential dangers, and use advanced concepts, scientific attitudes, professional methods, and fine standards to improve social governance efficiency. Firmly rely on the masses, deepen source governance, and resolve problems at the grassroots level and nip them in the bud.
Adhere to the unity of upholding fundamental principles and innovation, unswervingly follow the path of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics. Upholding fundamental principles is the foundation; innovation is the driving force. Upholding fundamental principles means deeply grasping the fundamental requirement of adhering to and strengthening the Party's overall leadership over social work, and adhering to the path of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics. Innovation means, in the face of the new mission of Chinese-style modernization, the new expectations of the people, and the new requirements of social development, with firm strategic confidence and historical initiative, promote continuous new achievements in social work through theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, and practical innovation. To strengthen and innovate social work, we must adhere to the combination of the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific reality and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and base ourselves on China's local conditions to explore suitable paths and methods. Respect the pioneering spirit of the grassroots and the masses, adapt to local conditions, take the initiative, and explore paths of high-quality development that suit each specific situation. Further summarize, refine, promote and develop the good practices and experiences created by the grassroots and the masses, continuously endow them with new era connotations, seek effective ideas and methods to solve new contradictions and problems, and strive to create replicable and scalable fresh experiences. Embrace modern information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, break the "data barriers" and "information islands" of traditional governance, and enhance social governance efficiency with digital intelligence technology.
Follow the Party's mass line in the new era, and demonstrate new responsibilities and new actions on the new journey
Facing the new situation, new tasks, and new requirements of social work, the social work system of Shandong Province will inherit and promote the Yimeng Spirit, follow the Party's mass line in the new era, take responsibility, forge ahead, and continuously promote new progress and create a new situation in social work.
Gather "new" forces, enhance the Party's appeal, cohesion, and influence in emerging fields. Continue to advance the "双融双创" (shuāng róng shuāng chuàng - "double integration, double innovation") action, promote deep integration of Party building in emerging fields with economic development and social governance, and strive to create new spaces for economic development and new patterns of social governance. Promote organizational coverage and work coverage of the Party, strengthen the political leadership role of Party organizations in enterprise development, achieve "should build, must build" Party organizations in non-public enterprises and social organizations, and actively explore Party building work models that suit the characteristics of enterprises. Deepen the Party building and reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, strengthen daily management and supervision of responsible persons, deepen the rectification of industry conduct and social organization chaos, adjust and optimize structure and layout, solve development difficulties, activate development momentum, and better serve industries, society, and the masses. Do a good job in service management for new employment groups, make efforts and achieve practical results in ideological guidance, "two coverages," rights protection, care and凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," solidarity), social integration, etc., comprehensively promote the construction of a "friendly ecology," build strong Party-mass service positions for new employment groups, improve working mechanisms and incentive mechanisms for new employment groups to participate in grassroots governance, and realize a "two-way running" between new employment groups and grassroots governance.
Strengthen the foundation and consolidate the base, strengthen Party-building-led grassroots governance and grassroots political power construction. Deepen grassroots governance innovation, continuously build grassroots governance innovation experimental zones, strengthen practical exploration, institutional design, and platform construction, establish and improve working mechanisms such as regular contact and regional coordination, and guide grassroots units to boldly try and experiment. Improve the urban-rural grassroots governance system under the leadership of Party organizations, combining autonomy, rule of law, and rule of virtue, use autonomy to increase vitality, rule of law to strengthen guarantees, and rule of virtue to promote righteousness, and continuously promote the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of village (resident) autonomy. Improve the access system for village (community) work matters, promote grassroots autonomous organizations to perform their duties according to law and operate orderly, empower civilized rural customs with village regulations and folk conventions, and effectively improve grassroots governance efficiency. Explore the "friendly neighbor good governance" path of grassroots governance, create a community atmosphere of neighborly love and mutual assistance, improve the level of refined governance and precision services in communities, and promote sustainable development of community governance. Strengthen the construction of community worker teams, conduct full-coverage centralized rotation training for community workers at different levels, and continuously improve the performance ability of community workers.
The Party and the people are of one mind, carry out the work of凝聚 (níng jù - "coagulate and gather," uniting) and serving the masses in a detailed and solid manner. Widely absorb public opinion and gather public wisdom, optimize the system for soliciting people's suggestions, and turn more "golden ideas" into "golden keys" that benefit the masses. Vigorously develop volunteerism for all, around serving national strategies, serving people's livelihoods, and serving social governance, promote the pilot of Party-building-led "professional social workers + volunteer services," strengthen the management of volunteer service organizations, implement volunteer service projects of "doing practical things for the people," and build a new pattern of volunteer service where everyone is willing to act, everyone can act on everything, and every place can act. Innovate social work services, promote social work services in fields such as medical affairs and schools, strengthen the construction of professional social work internship and practice bases, and continuously improve the professionalization and specialization level of social work services. Strengthen the construction of professional social work personnel teams, provide policy support in medical care, education, etc. Promote the construction of the discipline of social work, strengthen theoretical and practical research, construct an independent knowledge system of the social work profession, and provide solid talent support for promoting the high-quality development of social work in the new era.
(The author is the Minister of the Social Work Department of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee's "Two New" Work Committee)
Return to TopBy: 陈睿
At the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period and as the construction of a strong science and technology nation enters a critical phase of tackling key challenges, at the National Science and Technology Award Conference, the Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, profoundly expounding on the strategic tasks for building a strong science and technology nation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, providing scientific guidance for accelerating the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. In it, he specifically made deployments and requirements for "making good use of the baton of science and technology evaluation," pointing out the direction forward and providing fundamental guidance for the work of science and technology evaluation.
Science and technology evaluation is the baton for scientific and technological activities, and it is crucial to the healthy development of science and technology. Whether the evaluation orientation is correct, the indicators scientific, and the methods reasonable affect, to a large extent, the quality and efficiency of scientific and technological innovation and the overall innovation vitality. In recent years, we have insisted on simultaneously breaking the "four-onlys" (破四唯) and establishing new standards (立新标), continuously promoting the reform of science and technology evaluation, which has played a positive role in promoting research activities and optimizing the innovation environment. However, it should also be noted that many problems still exist in current science and technology evaluation. Some units have a single evaluation indicator, focusing only on quantitative indicators while neglecting quality contributions; the tendency toward hidden quantitative indicators of only papers, only titles, only degrees, and only awards (唯论文、唯职称、唯学历、唯奖项) still exists. Some evaluation processes are simplified, applying the same evaluation standard regardless of the category or form—"measuring the whole world with one ruler," "one-size-fits-all," "cooking everything in one pot." Some evaluation methods are complicated, with various indicator forms, multiple demands and categories, distracting and tiring researchers, overwhelming them. Some evaluation purposes are utilitarian, not to assess innovation outcomes but to allocate academic resources, not to discover innovative talents but to produce "hats" (帽子, academic titles) and "plaques" (牌子, brand-name designations). Some evaluation results are static, judging people by their "hats," selecting people by their "merit roll," looking only at past achievements rather than current status, simply determining salaries and allocating innovation resources based on titles and honors, attaching "permanent" labels to talents. If these situations cannot be effectively reversed, they will inevitably greatly affect the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of researchers, and may even constrain and hinder scientific and technological innovation. It is necessary to more resolutely carry out the reform of science and technology evaluation, so that talent evaluation returns to the innovation standard and the allocation of innovation resources follows the laws of scientific research.
Always break with conventions to recruit talents. People are the most critical factor in scientific and technological innovation; innovation-driven development is essentially talent-driven. When General Secretary Xi Jinping was in charge of Zhengding (正定), he personally introduced the "Nine Articles on Talents" (人才九条), one of which was "boldly appoint and widely accept all kinds of talents." Through methods such as internal use, external recruitment, upward invitation, downward excavation, nearby supplementation, and distant cultivation, they both used erudite and versatile externally hired experts and the emerging talents within the county; both used nationally renowned great scholars and local experts from the fields. This provides valuable experience and profound inspiration for today's science and technology evaluation work. Science and technology evaluation must break the narrow concept of "origin theory" and truly achieve "innovation asks not about origin, heroes care not about background"—support whoever can make contributions to the country, let more scientific and technological innovation talents be cultivated and guided, and let more scientific and technological personnel with real talent and learning have a place to use their skills.
Adhere to practical innovation results as the criterion for success or failure. The significance of science and technology evaluation is not in itself, but in promoting innovation, in solving major issues of high-quality development and scientific and technological progress. On this point, we cannot put the cart before the horse. Whether it is project review, institution assessment, or talent evaluation, we must strengthen the orientation toward innovation capability, quality, practical results, and contribution. Vigorously promote the "unveiling the list and taking command" (揭榜挂帅) and "horse racing system" (赛马制), support leading scientific and technological talents who want to work, can work, and can accomplish things to take command and go on missions, and encourage more young scientists to take on major roles in key research tasks. Adhere to classified evaluation; according to the laws and characteristics of different activities of basic research, applied basic research, technological innovation, and achievement transformation, improve the classified evaluation indicator system and evaluation procedure standards, reflect the differences among categories, and improve the relevance, precision, and effectiveness of science and technology evaluation.
Realize a good ecology to cultivate talents. A good research ecology is the basic guarantee for scientific and technological innovation; it can turn "a single flower blooming" into "a myriad of purple and red," and shift from "individual soldiers advancing" to "clusters forming momentum." Vigorously promote the spirit of scientists, inspire the vast number of researchers to cherish the motherland in their hearts, serve the people, bravely scale peaks, dare to be pioneers, pursue truth, conduct rigorous scholarship, be indifferent to fame and fortune, devote themselves to research, pool wisdom to tackle tough problems, cooperate in solidarity, willingly serve as stepping stones, and reward and cultivate the younger generation. Strengthen the construction of research integrity, seriously punish academic misconduct, and with a clean and upright research ecology, fully release the innovation vitality of scientific and technological talents, letting the source of innovation flow fully.
Wherever the baton points, the kinetic energy for scientific and technological innovation gathers there. The reform of science and technology evaluation requires both the courage to break old malpractices and the wisdom to establish new rules. We must take General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech as fundamental guidance, continue to deepen the reform of science and technology evaluation, make the orientation clearer, standards more scientific, and methods more diverse, and gather immense strength to accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening.
Return to TopBy: 赵振华
Development pattern is the overall layout and strategic direction of economic and social development of a country or region. Whether to focus on domestic circulation or international circulation is determined by the country’s development stage, environment, development goals, and development conditions. Different countries, and different development stages of the same country, objectively require a development pattern that suits them. Before reform and opening up, China’s economy was mainly based on domestic circulation, with economic and trade exchanges only with a few countries; the proportion of imports and exports in the national economy was very low. After reform and opening up, especially after joining the WTO, China deeply participated in the international division of labor, integrated into the international circulation, forming a development pattern of “two ends outside (两头在外)” for markets and resources; the proportion of imports and exports in the national economy increased substantially. In 2006, China’s dependence on foreign trade for goods reached as high as 67%. The traditional development pattern played an important role in seizing the opportunities of economic globalization, enhancing comprehensive national strength, and improving people’s lives. After the 2008 international financial crisis, the international development environment underwent profound changes. Facing a severe external environment, China adhered to the strategy of expanding domestic demand, promoting the transformation of the development pattern from being dominated by external demand to being dominated by domestic demand. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, adhering to the strategy of expanding domestic demand, economic development has shifted from being mainly driven by external demand to being driven by both domestic and external demand, with domestic demand as the mainstay. While China’s total foreign trade volume has increased substantially, the dependence on foreign trade has gradually decreased, indicating that the strategy of expanding domestic demand has achieved great results, and China’s development pattern has undergone historic changes. Especially under the impact of the epidemic, the global industrial chain and supply chain experienced partial fractures, directly affecting China’s domestic economic circulation. General Secretary Xi Jinping, following the trend of economic development and promptly responding to the changed external environment and development conditions, proposed to “build a new development pattern (新发展格局) with domestic circulation (国内大循环) as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations (双循环) mutually reinforcing.” This is a strategic decision made based on the reality of China’s new development stage and changes in the international environment. It is a major strategic task related to the overall situation of China’s development, which must be accurately understood and actively promoted from an overall perspective.
Accelerating the construction of a new development pattern has far-reaching strategic significance for giving full play to the advantages of a large country, effectively responding to various risks and challenges, and utilizing both domestic and international markets.
First, only by accelerating the construction of a new development pattern can we give full play to the advantages of a large country’s economy. Since reform and opening up, China’s economic strength, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national strength have undergone historic changes. In 2010, China’s total economic output exceeded Japan to rank second in the world. In 2019, China’s per capita GDP exceeded US$10,000 for the first time, and in 2025 it approached US$1.4,000. As a large country, China has strong advantages in domestic demand. From the perspective of consumer demand, China has a population of more than 1.4 billion with continuously growing income levels, which no other country can match. The size of the population itself can create a potential market. More importantly, China has eliminated absolute poverty, has a middle-income group of more than 400 million, and the per capita income of urban and rural residents shows a relatively fast growth momentum. These are the basic conditions for transforming the potential market into a real market. Income determines consumption, and continuously growing income provides an important foundation for ever-expanding consumer demand. Statistical data show that in 1992, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 1.09937 trillion yuan; in 2008, it exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 11.09946 trillion yuan; in 2012, it exceeded 20 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 20.55173 trillion yuan; in 2016, it exceeded 30 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 31.58062 trillion yuan; in 2019, it exceeded 40 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 40.72533 trillion yuan; in 2025, it exceeded 50 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 50.1202 trillion yuan. Thus it can be seen that China’s consumer demand is constantly leaping to new heights, showing a trend of sustained and rapid growth. A large population means abundant labor. It is worth further noting that China has built the world’s largest national education system, the gross enrollment rate of higher education exceeds 60%, the quality of the labor force continues to improve, and a rich talent resource advantage has been formed. China has the world’s largest team of engineers and scientific and technological innovation talents. From the perspective of investment demand, there are huge investment demands in traditional infrastructure such as urban renewal, new rural construction, high-quality high-standard farmland, and water conservancy construction, as well as new infrastructure such as 5G base stations, ultra-high voltage, intercity high-speed railways, new energy vehicle charging piles, big data centers, artificial intelligence, and industrial internet; the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the rapid development of emerging industries, especially strategic emerging industries, and the “new three items (新三样)” and “new new three items (新新三样)” leading global economic growth all generate huge industrial investment demands.
From the supply side, China has a complete and continuously upgrading industrial system and national economic system. It is the only country in the world that possesses all industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, including 41 major industrial categories, 207 medium categories, and 666 small categories, forming a complete industrial chain and supply chain, with strong supply capacity and supporting capacity. This can promote the integration and innovation of global production factors, and give full play to the scale effect and agglomeration effect. Especially after more than 40 years of reform and opening up, more and more fields in China are transforming from following to running alongside and leading, continuously promoting the upgrading of industries, products, services, and management.
Thus it can be seen that China already possesses many favorable conditions and strong support for transforming from being dominated by external demand to being dominated by domestic demand. Building a new development pattern can give full play to the advantages of China’s large country economy, exert scale and agglomeration effects, tap the potential for economic growth, and stimulate new momentum for economic development. At the same time, it must also be noted that China’s internal development conditions have also changed: production factor costs have risen, resource, energy, and environmental constraints have tightened, and the old development pattern of “two ends outside, large-scale imports and large-scale exports (大进大出)” has become unsuitable for the new development environment. The new development pattern must be accelerated.
Second, only by accelerating the construction of a new development pattern can we cope with the uncertainties and huge risks from the external environment, and enhance the security and stability of economic development. Profound changes unseen in a century are accelerating in today’s world. The international economy, politics, science and technology, culture, and security are undergoing profound adjustments. Uncertainties and unpredictable factors facing the world economy are increasing. The global industrial chain and supply chain are facing shocks, and “black swan” and “gray rhino” events can occur at any time. Western countries led by the United States practice unilateralism and trade protectionism, constantly provoking tariff wars and setting up non-tariff barriers. Hegemonism and power politics threaten world peace and stability. The international economic and trade order faces severe challenges. The world economic growth momentum is insufficient, lacking a strong driving force that can sustain rapid economic growth. The trade war initiated by the United States has extended to various fields such as science and technology, talent, and finance. The external environment for China’s economic development has undergone fundamental changes. To maintain sustained and healthy development of the national economy and minimize various certain and uncertain risks from the outside, we must adhere to the strategy of expanding domestic demand, give full play to the advantages of the domestic market, smooth domestic circulation, tap the potential of domestic demand, build a new development pattern, use the certainty of domestic circulation to offset uncertainties from all external aspects, ensure the completion of building a modern socialist country as scheduled, and firmly grasp the initiative in development. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Only by accelerating the construction of a new development pattern can we consolidate the foundation of China’s economic development, enhance the security and stability of development, and strengthen China’s viability, competitiveness, development capacity, and sustainability amid various foreseeable and unforeseeable storms and turbulent waves, ensuring that the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is not delayed or even interrupted, and successfully achieving the goal of comprehensively building a modern socialist country.”
Third, only by building a new development pattern can we better utilize both domestic and international markets and both kinds of resources, form a dual-wheel drive, and enhance new momentum for development. Building a new development pattern does not mean substantially shrinking opening up, closing the door to pursue construction, or building a closed domestic single circulation; it does not mean clinging to the old thinking of “two ends outside, large-scale imports and large-scale exports” with external circulation as the mainstay; taking domestic circulation as the mainstay does not mean that various regions, industries, and departments can act on their own, engaging in small circulations of regional blockade, industry monopoly, and departmental segmentation; it does not mean merely limiting to smoothing logistics or engaging in low-level logistics circulation; it does not mean simply adjusting the ratio of domestic and foreign trade or purely emphasizing the reduction of dependence on foreign trade, engaging in exporting for domestic sales; it is not a forced move or a temporary expedient, nor a temporary local policy adjustment. Building a new development pattern is a strategic consideration that follows the general trends of domestic and international development. In the new development stage, it is aimed at comprehensively building a modern socialist country and realizing the second centenary goal, and advancing the strategic goal of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization. It is a strategic layout for reshaping new competitive advantages and better grasping the initiative in future development amid the profound changes unseen in a century. Domestic circulation and international circulation do not exist in isolation; they are a dialectical unity of interdependence and mutual promotion. Expanding domestic demand, smoothing and strengthening domestic circulation can provide stable support for international circulation; expanding opening up, smoothing and expanding international circulation can bring more opportunities for domestic circulation. Building a new development pattern, with domestic circulation as the mainstay, aims to attract global production factors and innovation resources, better utilize both domestic and international markets and resources, enhance the ability to allocate resources globally, and win strategic initiative in high-level opening up.
Building a new development pattern is related to the realization of the goal of a modern socialist country on schedule, and it is also an unprecedented systematic and deep-level transformation. It objectively requires a transformation of the development mode, development momentum, development path, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development concept, which is the action guide for the new development pattern. Better coordinate the expansion of domestic demand and the deepening of supply-side structural reform, enhance the endogenous driving force and reliability of domestic circulation. Accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, consolidate the industrial foundation of the new development pattern. Accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, which is the most essential feature of building a new development pattern. Expand high-level opening up, while strengthening the leading role of domestic circulation in the dual circulation, also use international circulation to improve the efficiency and level of domestic circulation. Comprehensively promote coordinated development between urban and rural areas and among regions, increase the coverage of domestic circulation. Further deepen reform comprehensively, enhance the momentum and vitality of domestic circulation, and break various institutional and mechanism obstacles that restrict the construction of a new development pattern.
Return to TopBy: 何华云
The kind of outlook on career (事业观) that Party cadres establish fundamentally determines what kind of career goals they pursue, what kind of work attitude they adopt, what kind of spirit they uphold in doing things, and what kind of qualities and abilities they temper. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Treat the work entrusted by the Party as a cause (事业) to be pursued, rather than as an occupation (职业) or a rice bowl (饭碗)." To treat the work entrusted by the Party as a cause to be pursued requires Party cadres to step beyond the mentality of occupation and rice bowl, discard the task-driven mindset of passive coping, and constantly boost the spirit of doing work and starting enterprises (干事创业的精气神).
"What one engages in is called an undertaking (事); what one accomplishes is called an achievement (业)." The outlook on career mainly answers two major questions: "What kind of career to pursue and how to pursue it." In his essay "Thoughts on the Choice of a Profession for Young People," Marx pointed out that "experience lauds as the happiest those who bring happiness to the majority of people," and that "if we have chosen the profession that works best for humanity ... our happiness will belong to millions of people, our cause will continue to exist silently, but it will forever exert its influence, and before our ashes, noble people will shed hot tears." In Marx's view, the choice of a profession should not be hijacked by fame and profit, but should aim to work for the happiness of the vast majority — this is the greatest cause. Paul Korchagin in How the Steel Was Tempered, from plunging into the revolutionary torrent, to taking root in grassroots construction, to continuing the fight as a writer despite physical disability, faced repeated trials of hardship, injury, difficulty, and despair, yet never gave up the cause in his heart. That line in the book — "when he looks back on the past, he does not regret having wasted his years, nor is he ashamed of having been idle and mediocre" — reveals that pursuing a cause requires tenacious will. The cause for which our Party has tirelessly struggled is an unprecedented one. Party cadres must establish a correct outlook on career, consciously integrate personal struggle into the common cause of the Party and the people, and shine brightly and realize the value of life in advancing the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The height a cause can reach depends on the thickness of accumulated capability. Strong capability is the foundation of one's standing and the basis for accomplishing things. Only by continuously filling capability gaps and strengthening weak qualities can Party cadres shoulder post responsibilities, live up to the trust of the organization, and proceed steadily and far on the path of doing work and starting enterprises. Political capability is the foremost capability, determining the course of the cause's advancement. To enhance political capability, one must first deeply study and thoroughly understand Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, discern patterns, clarify directions, and increase wisdom from the latest achievements in the Sinicization of Marxism, continuously improve political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution, consciously base the pursuit of the cause on deep identification with the Party's innovative theories, and always maintain a high degree of alignment with the Party Central Committee, ensuring that all work does not deviate or go astray. Professional capability is the foundation, directly affecting work quality and efficiency. Facing new situations, new tasks, and new requirements, relying solely on past experience and established thinking is no longer sufficient to cope calmly and act effectively. There is an urgent need to update thinking concepts and innovate working methods, continuously enhancing the capability and confidence to manage complex situations. Establish the concept of lifelong learning, adhere to "learn what you do, make up for what you lack," continuously optimize knowledge structure and improve knowledge system, persistently hone practical skills and enhance professional competence, strive to become a specialist in one's own field, and promote quality and efficiency in all work with strong professional capability. Implementation capability is the key, concerning the landing and effective realization of deployments. For established work deployments, one must follow through to the end, start well and end well, resolutely prevent going through the motions and short-lived enthusiasm. To improve the capability to implement, one must strengthen the consciousness of the overall situation, bear the overall situation in mind, plan systematically, be adept at distinguishing priorities and grasping what is urgent and important, and scientifically coordinate and utilize various resources. Improve the working mechanism for promoting implementation by category and level; concentrate forces on key tasks to overcome difficulties; solidify processes for routine work and standardize operations; respond quickly and handle efficiently to emergencies. Proactively strengthen cross-department and cross-level coordination and linkage, break information barriers, gather work synergy, and ensure that all deployments take root and yield tangible results.
Doing work and starting enterprises is never a short sprint-like burst but a relay long run that tests perseverance and endurance; one must uphold a spirit of persistent pursuit. This persistence is not a rigid passive adherence but an active commitment to anchor goals, cultivate deeply, and face difficulties head-on. Communism is by no means as simple as "potatoes with beef stew," nor can it be obtained at arm's reach or achieved overnight. One must cultivate the steadfastness of 咬定青山不放松 (yǎo dìng qīng shān bù fàng sōng - "bite the green mountain and not let go," to hold on unwaveringly to a firm resolve), not be confused by external interference, always adhere to the original aspiration and mission, firmly believe in the value of work, and steadfastly trust the meaning of struggle. Do not fear temporary difficulties; treat every risk and challenge as a touchstone for tempering Party spirit, honing work style, and improving capability. To persistently do work, what matters is focus and deep cultivation. Doing work and starting enterprises requires the dedication of 板凳甘坐十年冷 (bǎn dèng gān zuò shí nián lěng - "willing to sit on a cold bench for ten years," to endure long-term obscurity and hard work), discard the sloppy style of 三天打鱼两天晒网 (sān tiān dǎ yú liǎng tiān shài wǎng - "fish for three days, dry nets for two," to work in fits and starts), abandon the flashy pretenses of seeking quick success and instant gain, settle down to take root in one's post, do meticulous and solid basic work, and consolidate the foundation through daily accumulation. Proactively study the laws of work, optimize working methods, and create solid performance through deep cultivation. Carry forward the fighting spirit of 越是艰险越向前 (yuè shì jiān xiǎn yuè xiàng qián - "the more dangerous, the more forward," to advance undaunted by danger), face difficulties head-on, bravely shoulder heavy burdens, neither retreat nor compromise, actively take on responsibilities and missions, break through barriers and open up new paths. Maintain a resilient character that never gives up, face problems and shortcomings squarely, promptly sum up experience, and become stronger and more courageous with each setback.
The quality of a cause stems from silent dedication; the value of work lies in selfless contribution. To elevate the work entrusted by the Party from a specific task to a lifelong pursuit, the spirit of dedication is always the source of strength. All undertakings of our Party are, in the final analysis, undertakings for the well-being of the people. The starting point and foothold of all work are always to realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. One must take benefiting the people as the greatest political achievement, consciously put the people's safety and well-being at heart, actively go down to the grassroots and get close to the people, listen carefully to their voices, accurately understand their demands, and do their utmost to solve their problems. Persist in reviewing work from the perspective of the people, test results with the people's reputation, resolutely abandon formalism and bureaucracy, and win the people's recognition through genuine service to the people and practical dedication. Bear in mind the overall situation, elevate one's vision. When the Party places a cadre in a post, it is a trust and, even more, a heavy responsibility. Only by doing the work well with high spirits and full enthusiasm, ensuring that 为官一任、造福一方 (wéi guān yī rèn, zào fú yī fāng - "serve in office for one term, bring benefit to one region," to do good for the locality during one's tenure), can one live up to the expectations of the Party and the people. The essence of dedication lies in correctly handling the relationship between the individual and the collective, and between the part and the whole. Ideologically, one must firmly establish the consciousness of the overall situation, discard narrow-minded thinking, not dwell on the weight of posts, not calculate over the level of treatment, and not compare personal gains and losses. In action, one must consider everything from the overall situation, and think more about the whole when doing things. When facing organizational assignments, do not pick and choose or set conditions; when facing task deployments, do not reduce standards or make substitutions; always devote oneself wholeheartedly to the Party's cause with a mind of 舍小我、为大我 (shě xiǎo wǒ, wèi dà wǒ - "sacrifice the small self for the greater self," to put collective interests before personal ones). Be indifferent to fame and gain, maintain pure true colors. Regarding personal reputation, status, and interests, one must think through and view them lightly, consciously break the small abacus in one's mind. Take personal achievements lightly; do not seek praise or applause for work; do not become arrogant or complacent when achieving results; do not vie for fame or profit when taking credit; do not become passive or slack when wronged. Maintain a calm mindset, take doing work well and making the cause solid as the greatest pursuit, treat tasks with a motivated heart, preserve the pure underlying color of doing work and starting enterprises, and realize the value of life in silent dedication.
Return to TopBy: 胡海忠
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the Central Urban Work Conference that since the 18th Party Congress, the Party Central Committee has persisted in systematically planning cities as organic living bodies (有机生命体), promoting historic achievements in urban development. The "organic living body" is a scientific guiding principle for urban work in the new era. As early as 1991, Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized at the founding meeting of the second council of the Fuzhou Urban Science Research Association (福州市城市科学研究会) that attention should be paid to holistic governance, conducting systematic research and multidisciplinary comprehensive research on cities, guiding cities to "become a 容光焕发 (róng guāng huàn fā - 'face glowing with health,' radiant and vigorous), energetic, healthy, and vital organism." Advancing urban work with the concept of "organic living body" requires objectively analyzing the constituent elements of a city, viewing the city as a life system in dynamic renewal and continuous evolution, and grasping the key tasks of urban work from the perspectives of life emergence, exchange and flow of organic elements, and maintenance and evolution of the life system.
The "organic living body" is a biological concept, referring to complex life phenomena such as growth, metabolism, and adaptation to the environment. Organisms achieve self-regulation and maintain stable life activities through continuous exchange of matter and energy with the outside world. Historical materialism uses the social organism (社会有机体) to explain the composition of a specific society. In Lenin's view, the dialectical method of Marx and Engels "is precisely the scientific method in sociology, which regards society as a living organism in continuous development (not as something mechanically combined and thus capable of arbitrarily assembling various social elements). To study this organism, it is necessary to objectively analyze the relations of production that constitute the given social formation, and to study the laws of activity and development of that social formation." The city is a spatial expression of social relations, a "living organism" relationship embodied in a specific space. Each city has its own growth laws and unique life texture, possessing a complete metabolic cycle. The mutual conditionality, interaction, and synergistic coexistence of various elements within the urban system are prerequisites for the overall stable existence and efficient functioning of the city.
We must respect the natural historical process of urban development and the urban system formed on this basis, just as we respect equal life. Only by fully considering regional differences and differences in historical and cultural endowments, fully considering the differences among urban agglomerations, metropolitan areas, within urban agglomerations, between urban agglomerations, large, medium, and small cities, small towns, etc., coordinating organically at the top level, and straightening out the relationships among different types of urban scale entities, can we promote the formation of a healthy pattern of orderly growth, gradient development, and integrated progress in the urban system, and build a symbiotic pattern with clear hierarchies, complementary functions, and smooth circulation.
Continuously release innovation momentum, activate the endogenous driving force of the city, and ensure that the city maintains vigorous vitality forever. If a city stubbornly clings to old development models, it will inevitably lose the life ability of 新陈代谢 (xīn chén dài xiè - 'metabolism,' renewal) and 吐故纳新 (tǔ gù nà xīn - 'expel the stale and take in the fresh,' constant renewal), ultimately leading to the functional solidification and developmental stagnation of the living body. We must use technological innovation to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship vitality, activate the hematopoietic function of the urban living body; use reform and innovation to adjust and optimize policies and institutions, creating a good institutional environment for urban development; fully leverage the city's pivotal role in the dual domestic and international circulation (国内国际双循环), accelerate scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening through domestic circulation, consolidate the internal foundation of urban development, optimize the structure of the urban living body through international circulation, and enhance the city's outward radiation capacity.
Attach importance to the sensory experience needs of the organic living body, and nourish the vitality of the city with people's livelihood as the center. Urban construction must prioritize making the people livable and safe, fully implement the people's city concept (人民城市理念), adhere to asking the people about their needs, asking the people for advice, and asking the people about effectiveness. Only by allowing every citizen to share the fruits of urban development can we nourish the city's vitality by retaining popular vitality. Promote the organic coordination and integrated planning of population, industry, towns, and transportation, focus on public services such as education, medical care, elderly care, childcare, and social security that are urgently needed by the masses, firmly uphold the bottom line of people's livelihood, enhance residents' sense of gain, happiness, and security, enable residents to retain nostalgia, and strengthen residents' sense of belonging to the city through the creation of a sense of home.
Understand the city as an organic living body embedded in the natural system, and achieve the sustainable development of the urban living body in the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. The urban living body and natural ecology are inseparable. Only by building green and low-carbon beautiful cities, purifying the urban ecological environment, protecting and making good use of the city's mountains and waters, eradicating urban ecological diseases, dredging the circulatory system of the urban living body, and eliminating risks and hidden dangers that endanger the health of citizens and the sustainable development of the city, can we build the city into a life community of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Treat safety as an insurmountable bottom line for urban survival, and consolidate the foundation for the healthy operation and high-quality development of the organic living body. Urban safety is not only about the continuation of the city's life but also the basic prerequisite for ensuring the lives of the people. Modern cities have highly dense populations, resources, and economic and social activities, with various risks and hidden dangers concentrated and superimposed. We must promote the construction of the urban infrastructure lifeline safety project (城市基础设施生命线安全工程), strengthen the prevention and control of urban natural disasters, enhance risk resistance, emergency response, and self-repair capabilities, improve the "software" resilience of urban management, and build a 牢不可破 (láo bù kě pò - 'unbreakable,' impregnable) solid barrier for urban safety.
Nourish the spiritual bloodline and civilized backbone of the urban living body, making the urban living body 形神兼备 (xíng shén jiān bèi - 'have both form and spirit,' embody both substance and soul) and 神采焕发 (shén cǎi huàn fā - 'radiant with vigor,' shining with vitality). The material carriers of a city determine its hardware state, while cultural heritage, civilized customs, and spiritual character determine the city's appeal, cohesion, and inspiration. A city without culture is merely a cold cluster of buildings. A modern people's city must achieve coordination between material civilization and spiritual civilization. In the construction process, it must be rooted in excellent traditional Chinese culture, manifesting Chinese temperament and Chinese style. Strengthen the control and guiding role of urban planning, improve the historical and cultural protection and inheritance system and the urban landscape management system, strengthen architectural design management, inject culture and soul into the urban organism, extricate from the development dilemma of "千城一面" (qiān chéng yī miàn - 'a thousand cities, one face,' uniform appearance), and make the city have a soul and warmth.
Attach importance to the linkage between overall dispatching and grassroots micro-circulation, to promote the benign operation of the urban living body. Urban management and service are the focus of urban work. The maintenance of the urban living body requires keen perception, efficient dispatching, and fine maintenance. We must strengthen the Party's overall leadership over urban work, adhere to Party building leadership, conform to the trend of digital intelligence, innovate governance concepts, models, and means, strengthen technological support, and effectively improve the construction level of smart cities. Transform the urban development model of "emphasizing construction, neglecting governance," dredge the capillaries of the urban living body, make efforts in scientific, refined, and intelligent aspects, so that the city's operation is more efficient, services are more precise, and operations are more orderly.
Return to TopBy: 顾涛
In Wang Guowei’s Guantang Collection (观堂集林), there is a classic that once caused a sensation, “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” (殷周制度论). He was quite conceited about this essay himself, saying, “This text, amid textual research, harbors the intention of ordering the world; it may approach Mr. Tinglin.” Over more than one hundred years, although many related studies have been made, there remain undisclosed coverings. In particular, the essay’s proposal that “what in antiquity was called the state is not only the pivot of politics but also the pivot of morality” — the “intention of ordering the world” contained therein — has not yet received sufficient attention.
Why was “the state is also the pivot of morality” proposed?
Wang Guowei published this essay in 1917, at a time when the German thinker Max Weber was fully engaged in writing Economy and Society. The following year (1918), in the lecture “Politics as a Vocation,” Weber announced his definition of the state — the modern state is a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. This state theory of Weber is a mainstream Western political doctrine concerning the state, formed since the 16th century from Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau up to the early 20th century, based on the developmental experience of capitalism. Wang Guowei and Weber lived in the same era, and he could not be said to be unfamiliar with modern European political thought and ethical philosophy, yet he did not directly appropriate this established theory to analyze ancient China; instead, he proposed a new doctrine that was diametrically opposed (zhēn fēng xiāng duì - “needle point to needle point,” directly opposed) to Weber. Two theories of the state, Chinese and German, were born almost simultaneously.
Applying Weber’s theory to dissect the ancient Chinese political system has become a common practice. Francis Fukuyama’s 2011 book The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution is no exception, and it defines the “transformation from Zhou to Qin” as the greatest watershed in Chinese political history. In the book, on one hand, he takes ancient China as the coordinate origin, believing that the modern state in Weber’s sense was already initially established as early as the Qin dynasty; on the other hand, he asserts that the Zhou dynasty before Qin was still between tribes and chiefdoms, not a true state. This emphasis on the “transformation from Zhou to Qin” is somewhat similar to the positions of Tan Sitong, Liang Qichao, and others who opposed autocracy and advocated revolution, and it even continues the line of historians during the Ming-Qing transition who said “the transition from Qin to Han was a great change in heaven and earth.”
Relying on newly unearthed oracle bones and bronze inscriptions, Wang Guowei verified piece by piece that the lineage of the Yin-Shang ancestors and early kings in the “Basic Annals of Yin” of the Records of the Grand Historian was a “reliable record.” He then further elaborated the essence of the Duke of Zhou’s making of rites and creation of music, thereby deeply realizing that the Zhou system was vastly different from that of Yin-Shang. The revolutionary change between Yin and Zhou lay in “the old institutions were abolished and new institutions arose,” and the “systems, cultural relics, and the original intent behind their establishment were all for the grand plan of eternal peace and order.” This unchanging principle amid myriad changes (wàn biàn bù lí qí zōng - “though a thousand changes, never depart from the principle”) — that is Wang Guowei’s great discovery. In this sense, the academic value of “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” has already surpassed the so-called “pre-stream” (yù liú) of using new materials to study new problems. The use of the “dual-evidence method” of cross-referencing the oracle bones from Yinxu with “leftover texts on paper” is an innovation in methodology. But its particularly unique value lies in pointing out that the ancient state of the East, with its long history, was from its very beginning “not only the pivot of politics, but also the pivot of morality.” Thus, this view of the state rooted in Chinese ritual and music civilization stands as two peaks confronting each other (shuāng fēng bìng zhì - “two peaks stand side by side,” matched in eminence) with Weber’s modern Western state theory.
The intention and deep meaning of “the state is also the pivot of morality”
Wang Guowei’s proposal that “the state is also the pivot of morality” had its unique intention and deep meaning. The opening sentence of “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” states: “In the transformation of Chinese politics and culture, nothing is more drastic than the transition between Yin and Zhou.” Wang Guowei deliberately highlighted the institutional historical significance of the Yin-Zhou revolution, believing that the transformation from Zhou to Qin, the transformation from Tang to Song, and even the new great transformation since the late Qing that he personally experienced were all “not more drastic than” Yin and Zhou. Through Wang Guowei’s perspective, we can see that state governance since Qin-Han abandoned the original forms of the “Zhou, though an old state,” such as enfeeffment, patriarchal clan system, and well-field system, while a series of state forms in Weber’s sense — centralization, the emperor system, bureaucratic government, the commandery-county system — achieved a bodily renewal of “its mandate was renewed.” But the bloodline and essence of the Zhou system were not completely severed; instead, they extended into the body of the Qin-Han system. Although the Han-Tang system was born from a new womb and changed its bones (tuō tāi huàn gǔ - “to be reborn, to undergo a radical transformation”), the genes of the Zhou system still survived. In Wang Guowei’s eyes, they still grew under the shelter of the Zhou system. Therefore, from Tang-Song to modern times, society underwent repeated changes, foreign new ideas continuously poured in, and the external forms of state governance were constantly renewed, but the tradition of governing the state with rites, music, and morality has continued for three thousand years without interruption.
The argumentation of “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” can be described as logically orderly. From behind the Zhou system’s “three hundred major rites and three thousand minor rites,” one can extract the system and ceremonies that ran through all levels from top to bottom — “Son of Heaven, feudal lords, ministers and officials, and scholars” — so that “the people were transformed by moral customs below.” The reason why the education of rites and music could be effective was that the systems and ceremonies from above could form a personal and spiritual inspiration, which then formed an atmosphere of changing customs and transforming habits (yí fēng yì sú - “change prevailing customs and alter established habits”), which over time became a trend, penetrating people’s hearts — this is what people today call “morality.” For this reason, Wang Guowei said, “Systems and ceremonies are the vessels of morality”; the essence of Zhou governance lay “in incorporating superiors and inferiors into morality, and uniting the Son of Heaven, feudal lords, ministers and officials, scholars, and common people into a moral community.” Therefore, after Qin-Han, although external “vessels” and “numbers” such as systems and ceremonies underwent changes, the soul of “incorporating superiors and inferiors into morality” did not change; the “rites” and “music” of making rites and creating music should be revised and adjusted according to time and place, but the “original intent of establishing institutions” — the purpose of using morality to unify society — never changed. From the unchanging root of “the state is also the pivot of morality,” from the Western Zhou to the late Qing, the great tradition of Chinese political institutions can be collectively called three thousand years of ritual governance.
In fact, the study of Chinese institutional history have always affirmed the significance of the Qin system in the evolution of civilization, but never negated the Zhou system. As Feng Tianyu said, “The Zhou system and the Qin system are the ‘axial institutions’ in Chinese history,” “from the pre-Qin period to the mid-Qing, Chinese institutional discourse always hovered within the norms of the Zhou system and the Qin system.” Hence, his last monograph before his death was titled The Zhou System and the Qin System. Chinese people speak of holding two ends and using the middle (zhí liǎng yòng zhōng - “hold the two extremes and use the mean,” to take the middle way). The reason why institutional evolution after Qin-Han was considered “ultra-stable,” or even seemingly “frozen” or “stagnant,” is precisely that successive dynasties, in the process of responding to realities, continuously drew on the Zhou and Qin systems, causing them to interweave, reorganize, and improve constantly. The overall structure remained stable and unchanged, with both continuity and reform, yet vitality was continuously stimulated, gradually becoming resilient and precise.
The far-reaching influence of “the state is also the pivot of morality”
Compared with the widespread influence that the Hobbes-Weber political philosophy had in the 20th century, Wang Fansen (王汎森) says that Wang Guowei’s statement is a “stubborn low note” — long covered by mainstream trends of thought, yet never disappearing. With the advantages and dividends that capitalist states displayed in the wave of industrialization, reducing the essence of the state to the two axes of power and contract almost became a world model based on Western experience. Faced with this common attitude of modern Western academia toward ancient China, Wang Guowei insisted on arguing that “the state is also the pivot of morality,” which was not only somewhat incompatible (gé gé bù rù - “each stands apart and does not enter,” to be alien to each other) but also revealed the posture of an Eastern scholar. Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that although “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” had a good response in the field of ancient historiography, it ultimately did not cause a big ripple in the history of political thought. Moreover, even among historians, most considered that this “pivot of morality” could probably only stay in the Western Zhou three thousand years ago, and could hardly cross the “threshold” of the unified system since Qin-Han.
But should China since the 20th century break with the three-thousand-year tradition of ritual governance, and then graft or even directly copy the modern Western concept of the state since Hobbes and Weber? This is precisely the original intention and driving force behind Wang Guowei’s writing of “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” — the man who once said, “Those who will in the future illuminate and enlarge our country’s scholarship must be those well versed in world scholarship.” If “Textual Research on the Early Kings and Ancestors Seen in the Yin Oracle Bone Inscriptions” was Wang Guowei’s powerful counterattack against the “doubting antiquity” trend of his time, then “On Institutions of Yin and Zhou” was a profound reflection on the then sweeping (fēng mí yī shí - “to be all the rage for a time,” to be fashionable for a while) trend of criticizing Confucius and opposing rites. Wang Guowei’s vision and insight far surpassed his era; he was among the earliest pioneers in modern times who firmly believed that China’s modernization must be a modernization that continues the ancient civilization.
“The state is also the pivot of morality,” as an autonomous knowledge system, has powerful space for development. The “morality” referred to here certainly includes personal character, but even more includes human relations ethics and social morality, forming a complete framework of “self — others — society.” From Zhou, Confucius, the various masters, Buddhism and Daoism, down to Han-Tang Confucians and Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, its scope of extension and depth of development are unique (dú shù yī zhì - “to fly one’s own colors,” to be unique) in the world’s civilizational systems. What is more necessary to point out is that the “morality” of the state is contained in the actual state of the successive dynasties’ institutions and political operations that serve as “vessels of morality.” Only from the creation, continuation, and evolution of each institutional item, and from the implementation, adaptation, and landing of the systems, can one see the true essence and gain true knowledge.
Today, we can already see that this gene of political civilization is gradually being activated, constituting the endogenous driving force for the success of Chinese-style modernization, and also highlighting the historical inevitability, cultural connotations, and unique advantages of the Chinese path. If it can be further summarized and refined theoretically, it may be of great help to the proposal of a Chinese solution for global governance.
(The author is Dean of the School of Humanities, Tsinghua University.)
Return to TopBy: 赵逸才
The "county" (县) has been the most stable type of administrative division in China, playing a fundamental role in tax collection, administrative management, and public security. After Qin unification, the county system was extended throughout the empire; subsequent dynasties all governed on this basis, and the essential character of "county governance of China" (县治中国) has never changed.
From the perspective of the source and meaning of the character, the original sense of the character "县" (county) conceals its institutional attributes. Xu Shen's (许慎) Shuowen Jiezi (《说文解字》) of the Eastern Han records: "县, to suspend. From the radical for silk, holding a head. Hu juan qie." The traditional character "縣" is an associative compound; the character form is composed of an inverted "head" (首) and "silk" (系), with the original meaning of hanging or binding, and by extension a territorial unit suspended from the center and directly subordinate to the monarch's jurisdiction — a precise interpretation of the core characteristic that distinguished the early county system from enfeoffed fiefs.
According to the Zuo Zhuan (《左传》), the "county" (县) in the sense of an administrative division first appeared in the early Spring and Autumn period in the state of Chu, and subsequently emerged in the major states of Qi, Jin, and Qin. Some scholars also propose that Qin and Jin were the earliest to establish counties. During the Spring and Autumn period, the origins and methods of establishing counties varied among the states. In Qi and Jin, counties were generally used as rewards for ministers — for example, Duke Huan of Qi granted Guan Zhong (管仲) "his seventeen counties," and Duke Ling of Qi bestowed on Shu Yi (叔夷) "his three hundred counties." Duke Jing of Jin "awarded Shi Bo (士伯) the Guayan county." Jin also "because of its ten families and nine counties, with nine hundred long chariots, and the remaining forty counties," making a total of forty-nine counties. In Qin, Shang Yang's reforms "merged the various small townships and settlements to form large counties, with one magistrate per county, forty-one counties." The counties of Chu were the largest in area; King Ling of Chu boasted, "Now I have greatly fortified Chen, Cai, and Bugeng, each contributing a thousand chariots. You have labored on these. Will the feudal lords not fear me?" Their vastness can be imagined. The counties of Qin and Chu were mostly ruled directly by the monarchs, which is also why the ducal houses of Qin and Chu were strong.
In the late Spring and Autumn period, the commandery (郡) began to appear. The earliest recorded instance is in the first year of Duke Hui of Jin (650 BCE), when the Jin prince Yiwu privately said to Prince Zhi, "You indeed have commanderies and counties." In the nineteenth year of Duke Ding of Jin (493 BCE), Zhao Jianzi led an army to attack Qi, and in his oath said, "He who defeats the enemy: the upper great officials receive a county, the lower great officials receive a commandery." This shows that at that time the commandery in Jin was less than the county; the commandery was originally perhaps a settlement more distant from the capital than the county, located in sparsely populated border areas. When considered from the perspective of military levy units, indeed the commandery was small and the county large; but the commanderies on the periphery had greater development potential than the counties in the inner domain. By the Warring States period, with the economic development of the border commanderies, a situation formed in which the commandery was superior to the county. According to the Strategies of the Warring States (《战国策》): "Gan Mao replied: 'Yiyang is a large county; Shangdang and Nanyang have accumulated goods there for a long time. It is called a county, but in reality it is a commandery.'" This indicates that by the Warring States, commanderies had become larger than counties, gradually forming a two-level administrative division system in which commanderies governed counties. By the time of Qin unification, Qin Shihuang divided the realm into thirty-six commanderies, with counties under each commandery, establishing a strict commandery-county administrative division system throughout the empire, which successive dynasties followed.
In the early Han, a system of parallel commanderies and kingdoms was implemented. Marquisates were directly subordinate to the central government, equivalent to counties, while kingdoms administered commanderies, occupying a position between the center and the commanderies. At this time, counties as administrative units under commanderies and kingdoms were no different from the Qin dynasty. The Book of Han, Treatise on Geography (《汉书·地理志》) records: "By the time of Emperor Xiaoping, there were 103 commanderies and kingdoms, 1,314 county towns, 32 circuits, and 241 marquisates." According to the Continued Book of Han, Treatise on Commanderies and Kingdoms (《续汉书·郡国志》), in the fifth year of the Yonghe era of Emperor Shun (140 CE), there were 105 commanderies and kingdoms, and 1,180 county-level administrative divisions. During the Two Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the territories and administrative divisions of the various regimes were complex and frequently changing. During this period, the malignant expansion of commanderies and counties often made them nominal; many prefectures and commanderies had no actual households or land. By the time the Sui unified north and south, the administrative divisions returned to a path of healthy development. In the fifth year of the Daye era (609 CE), after Sui pacified Tuyuhun, there were 190 commanderies and 1,255 counties nationwide. In the early Wude era of the Tang, Sui commanderies were changed to prefectures; after the Zhenguan era, many prefectures and commanderies were merged; in the first year of the Tianbao era (742 CE), Emperor Xuanzong changed prefectures back to commanderies, and later Emperor Suzong changed commanderies back to prefectures. In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era (754 CE), there were 327 commanderies (or prefectures), and under them 1,613 counties.
During the hundred-plus years from the late 10th century to the early 12th century, the Northern Song and Liao confronted each other across a north-south divide. In the third year of the Tianqing era of Liao (1113 CE), there were 99 prefectures and superior prefectures governing counties, administering 199 counties; in the third year of the Zhenghe era of the Northern Song (1113 CE), there were 308 prefectures and superior prefectures governing counties, administering 1,203 counties. During the century from the early 12th century to the early 13th century, Jin and the Southern Song held a stalemate. The Southern Song's administrative structure was mostly inherited from the Northern Song; in the first year of the Jiading era (1208 CE), the Southern Song had fifteen circuits, with 191 prefecture-level administrations governing counties, administering 711 counties; in the eighth year of the Taihe era (1208 CE), Jin established 184 prefectures and superior prefectures governing counties, administering 691 counties. Compared with Liao and the Northern Song, a relatively strong stability was evident. The administrative division hierarchy of the Yuan dynasty was complex, with up to five levels: "province—circuit—prefecture—subprefecture—county." There were 347 prefecture-level administrations actually governing counties, administering 1,127 counties.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, China's traditional local administrative system entered a period of standardization. In the tenth year of the Wanli era (1582 CE), there were 162 prefecture-level administrations, governing 1,179 counties. The Qing implemented a three-level system of "province—prefecture (directly-governed department, directly-governed subprefecture)—county (scattered department, scattered subprefecture)." By the third year of the Xuantong era (1911 CE), there were 23 provinces, with 219 prefectures, 60 directly-governed departments, and 79 directly-governed subprefectures, totaling 358 prefecture-level administrations; there were 89 scattered departments, 146 scattered subprefectures, and 1,382 counties, totaling 1,617 county-level administrative divisions.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, changes in the establishment of counties mainly involved the following aspects. First, the merger of banners and counties — twelve counties were successively abolished and merged into banners. Second, the abolition and merger of small counties temporarily established in base areas. Third, the abolition of administration bureaus (设治局) and their conversion into counties — thirty-four administration bureaus were successively changed into counties (or autonomous counties) or merged into neighboring counties. Fourth, the establishment of counties needed for economic construction. Fifth, adjustments to counties based on indicators such as population, area, and economic scale. After reform and opening up, the system of cities managing counties was established. Under the wave of urbanization, county-level cities and municipal districts have increased year by year, while the number of counties has continuously declined, and China's county-level administrative division system is undergoing historic transformation.
Observing the historical evolution of the "county" (县), it developed from its original meaning of the outer countryside (县鄙) into a basic-level administrative unit that still plays an important role in China's administrative divisions today, persisting for approximately 2,700 years without decline.
In the transformation of grassroots social governance from simple to refined models, the county plays an indispensable role. In traditional times, "imperial power did not reach below the county" (皇权不下县); there were no formal administrative organizations below the county. Local gentry, with Confucian ethics and local knowledge as their core, carried out simple governance at the grassroots level. Under the condition of the unity of family and state, relying on clan power networks, the stability of grassroots society was maintained. The advent of industrialization, marketization, and urbanization has profoundly affected the social structure, cultural concepts, and organizational forms of the countryside. People have obtained more non-agricultural income, income relying on land output has decreased, and the authority system built on experience and land has gradually disintegrated. Closely linked to industrialization is large-scale population mobility, which has changed the social structure of the countryside. As social mobility increases, the relationships to be handled become more complex, and traditional governance systems and rules have changed; townships have become a level of government. Entering the new era, China's grassroots social governance places greater emphasis on digitization, informatization, systematization, and intelligence. Within the governance system, the "county" has become an important integration node; many tasks and information need to be converted and transmitted here. The strong vitality and fundamental role of the "county" are evident both in ancient times and today.
Return to TopBy: 汤诚
The West African ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali has long enjoyed the reputation of "City of Libraries." From the 14th to the 16th century, relying on the trans-Saharan trade route, Timbuktu gradually developed into an important academic and cultural center. At its peak, the city was dotted with more than a hundred public and private libraries. The cumulative surviving hundreds of thousands of manuscripts cover religion, astronomy, medicine, history, and commercial contracts, including both Arabic classical translations and indigenous West African works. During war-torn times, librarians and residents hid the manuscripts secretly in cellars and caves so that they could survive, thus forming the present-day 独树一帜 (dú shù yī zhì - "single tree, one banner," to stand out as unique) desert library civilization.
The Obscured West African Writing Tradition
For a long time, Africa has often been portrayed as a "continent without writing." Even when historians later acknowledged the richness of its history, they often first attributed it to the oral tradition. Orality is certainly important—every society has songs, legends, memories, and storytellers—but to equate it with the entirety of Africa obscures another equally ancient dimension: the written Africa.
In West Africa, this thread of writing can be clearly traced. In the early 11th century, Arabic stone inscriptions had already appeared in the Sahel region; the 12th-century parchment Quran and 13th-century manuscripts also left the fingerprints of ancestors between the pages. From the 14th to the 16th century, Timbuktu's fame grew daily. Paper came with caravans from the Mediterranean and southern Europe; ink and pens were made locally; loose-leaf texts were protected by goatskin bindings. Paper came from afar, books were produced locally. Scholars wrote books, students copied, scribes made a living from this work, bookbinders cut bindings, teachers taught, collectors accumulated. Timbuktu was not just a distribution center for manuscripts, but a place of production, preservation, and transmission.
In the early 16th century, Hasan al-Wazzan, known to later generations as "Leo Africanus," wrote in his travelogue that many North African handwritten books were sold in the Timbuktu market, and the profit from the book trade was even higher than other goods. The scholar Ahmad Baba, born in 1556, claimed that his family had the smallest collection among his clan, yet still possessed over 1,600 volumes. Hundreds of years later, these written remains do not exist only in the admiration of travelers and the self-accounts of scholars. At the Ahmad Baba Institute (艾哈迈德·巴巴研究所) alone, the manuscripts collected in the early 21st century numbered about 20,000 items, and this is still only the 冰山一角 (bīng shān yī jiǎo - "tip of the iceberg") of Timbuktu's manuscripts. Many manuscripts have not yet been catalogued, and many collections still await reading and identification.
The Knowledge Network Behind a City
The rise of Timbuktu was a slow transformation from a trading town to an academic center. Before that, Walata (瓦拉塔) in present-day southeastern Mauritania had been a key point on the southern Sahara, where merchants and students gathered. From the 14th to the 16th century, Timbuktu gradually 取而代之 (qǔ ér dài zhī - "take it and replace it," to replace something or someone) and became a new hub of knowledge and commerce. According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, merchants, scholars, and devout believers who had formerly flowed to Walata gradually turned to Timbuktu; people from Egypt, Awjila, Fezzan, Fes, Sus, and other places closely linked this city with North Africa and the Saharan oases. At the same time, scholar families from indigenous West African towns such as Djenné (杰内) joined its academic lineage, and neighboring scholars traveled back and forth, so Timbuktu's reputation grew increasingly resplendent.
Scholars would either gather at the Sankore Mosque, the Sidi Yahya Mosque, and the Djinguereber Grand Mosque, discussing and studying scriptures; or they would enter the residences of scholars, listening to lectures, copying, and reciting among book chests and manuscripts. Muhammad Bagayogo (穆罕默德·巴加约戈) was one such renowned teacher. He came from a Djula scholar family—the Djula were adept at commerce, traveled throughout West Africa, came into contact with and spread Islamic learning early on, and disseminated knowledge through their migrations. Ahmad Baba followed Bagayogo for ten years, delving deeply into legal classics such as the Mukhtasar of Khalil and the Muwatta, while also studying grammar, rhetoric, logic, and astronomy. Such master-disciple relationships were not isolated cases. Between 1450 and 1650, the Tarikh al-Sudan alone records 88 instances of transmission involving 60 scholars; among 42 scholars with clear master-disciple lineages, 12 studied under more than one teacher.
Beyond the lecture halls, an interdependent knowledge industry network took shape: judges adjudicated matters, teachers taught classics, students followed teachers in learning, scribes made a living by writing, bookbinders preserved loose leaves, bibliophiles accumulated texts, and local notables provided funding and mediation. In the 1570s, a 28-volume Arabic dictionary was copied in Timbuktu, and its colophon left records of the employer, scribe, vocalizer, fees, and circulation history. Books had value, copying had remuneration, collation had its share, and circulation had evidence. The mosques, scholars' residences, book chests, manuscripts, and colophons together constituted the tangible and palpable texture of Timbuktu's intellectual life.
Bibliophiles and Private Libraries
In Timbuktu, "library" should not be understood in the modern sense of a public institution. The earlier and more common form was the private collection accumulated by individuals or families. In the latter half of the 16th century, figures such as Ahmad Baba already mentioned such collections; in 17th-century chronicles, records of scholars purchasing manuscripts can also be found. Many contemporary private bibliophiles are precisely descendants of earlier scholars.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Moroccan bibliophile Ahmad Boularaf (艾哈迈德·布拉拉夫) opened a private library in Timbuktu. Born around 1864 in Morocco, he had lived in Chinguetti (欣吉提) in Mauritania before settling in Timbuktu. Around 1907, he opened his collection to the public and hired people to copy manuscripts to enrich the collection. By 1945, his collection numbered 2,076 items; by 2002, after a considerable portion had been donated to the Ahmad Baba Institute, about 680 items remained. The experience of the Boularaf Library also prompted more private collectors to re-examine the fate of their family documents. Since 1996, 21 private collections in Timbuktu have been opened to the public, of which five are more accessible: the Mamma Haidara Library (马马·海达拉图书馆), the Fondo Kati Library (丰多·卡蒂图书馆), the Wangari Library (旺加里图书馆), the Imam Suyuti Library (伊玛目苏尤提图书馆), and the Djinguereber Library (津加雷贝尔图书馆), together holding more than 20,000 manuscripts.
The Fondo Kati Library especially demonstrates the familial nature of private collections. Its tradition of collecting can be traced back to Ali ibn Ziyad (阿里·本·齐亚德), who left Toledo (托莱多) in Spain in 1469, bringing a batch of manuscripts into West Africa. Later, through Gumbu (古姆布), Tindirma (廷迪尔马), Bina (比纳), Goundam (贡达姆), and other places, the collection was continuously supplemented by descendants of the Kati family. Later, branches of the family scattered, and the collection dispersed accordingly. At the end of the 20th century, Ismaël Diadié Haidara (伊斯梅尔·迪亚迪耶·海达拉), a descendant of the Kati family and director of the Fondo Kati Library, began to recollect the scattered family manuscripts. In 1999, this collection, dispersed among villages along the Niger River, was reassembled in Timbuktu. By around 2012, the Fondo Kati Library had gathered 12,174 manuscripts, of which 7,026 belonged to the historical Kati family collection. The holdings are arranged according to family members and transmission lines; the arrangement of the bookshelves themselves is like an unfolding genealogy.
The Contemporary Fate of the Manuscripts
Entering the 21st century, Timbuktu's manuscripts once again came into the world's view, but amid the flames of war. Around 2012, the situation in northern Mali underwent drastic changes. Mud-brick mausoleums were destroyed, and news quickly spread that manuscripts had been burned.
But this was not the whole truth. Many manuscripts had already been packed into iron chests under the organization of local bibliophiles, librarians, and volunteers, transported out of the ancient city under cover of night along the Niger River to Bamako; others remained hidden in Timbuktu. The catastrophe for knowledge was not only paper reduced to ashes, but also removal, dispersal, and the collapse of order. The manuscripts survived, but left behind the familiar book chests, families, and city; they were preserved, but lost part of the people and stories that knew them.
After the crisis, conservation efforts turned to restoration, cataloguing, and digitization. The war forced manuscripts to face the risk of destruction, while rescue, restoration, and digitization sought new life for the written word. Institutions such as the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, and the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library have successively participated; the Ford Foundation, the South Africa-Mali Timbuktu Manuscript Project, and others have also become involved in preservation. Digital images create copies for fragile pages, and also allow the scattered, relocated, and damaged manuscripts to re-enter the track of collation, research, and dissemination.
Looking back at Timbuktu, the library is far more than premises, shelves, and books. It can be dispersed among mosques, scholars' residences, family chests, and private collections; it can also transform into actions of transfer, restoration, cataloguing, and guardianship in times of crisis. What is called a library is, after all, a social mechanism of documents: someone writes, someone collects, someone teaches, someone rescues. The desert may bury roads, but it has not buried these words.
Return to TopInterpreter: Liu Xiaochang (刘小昶) Minister of the Department of Labor and Economic Work of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (中华全国总工会劳动和经济工作部部长)
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that now, the objects of mass work are more diverse, the demands of the masses are more varied, and the environment for mass work is more complex. This requires us to deeply research and accurately grasp the characteristics and laws of mass work under the new situation, improve mass work methods, and raise the level of mass work. May we ask, how should we understand deeply researching and accurately grasping the characteristics and laws of mass work under the new situation?
Interpreter: Sun Lin (孙林) Professor of the Teaching and Research Department of the United Front Work, Central Party School (National Academy of Governance) (中央党校（国家行政学院）统一战线教研部教授)
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Now, the objects of mass work are more diverse, the demands of the masses are more varied, and the environment for mass work is more complex. This requires us to deeply research and accurately grasp the characteristics and laws of mass work under the new situation, improve mass work methods, and raise the level of mass work." This important discourse precisely assesses the new situations and new problems in Party-masses and Party-cadre-masses relations in the new era, focuses on resolving the "four major tests" (四大考验) and "four dangers" (四种危险) facing the Party in long-term governance, and clarifies the epochal task of responding to "what to do" by grasping "how mass work changes."
The objects of mass work are more diverse.
The masses are concrete and historical, not an abstract, homogeneous whole. Over more than one hundred years, our Party has adhered to combining the Marxist view of the masses with China's social reality and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, advancing with the times to carry out mass work by stratifying and categorizing according to social changes. Entering the new era, interactions among various fields and groups in society have become more frequent, social mobility has increased, and the objects and scope of mass work have expanded significantly, displaying characteristics of diversification, multi-levelness, and multi-circle.
Traditional objects of mass work are continuously differentiating. In the new era, with the continuous improvement of the market economy system and the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure, the traditional worker-peasant masses and intellectuals are showing a fine-grained differentiation trend. The worker masses are gradually dividing into multiple types such as traditional industrial workers, emerging industrial technical workers, and industrial workers in non-public enterprises. Employees in the non-public economy have become the main body of the workforce, and employment forms have extended from stable positions to flexible employment and gig employment. The peasant masses have broken away from a single agricultural identity, differentiating into multiple groups such as new-type professional farmers, large-scale farming households,留守务农 (liú shǒu wù nóng - "left-behind farming") peasants, and migrant workers entering cities, with significant differences in geographic distribution, employment patterns, and income structures. Intellectuals are no longer confined to public institutions within the system; a large number have entered private enterprises, social organizations, intermediary agencies, and freelance fields, with occupational mobility and class heterogeneity continuously increasing.
The scale of the new social stratum masses is growing. The vigorous development of new industries and new models has driven the rapid expansion of the new social stratum and new employment groups. According to statistics, the scale of new employment groups in China is currently about 84 million people, accounting for more than 21% of the total number of workers nationwide. New employment groups generally have characteristics such as weak organizational attachment, high mobility, fragmented work-rest schedules, and high online activity.
Cross-regional and cross-industry mobility of the masses has become normalized. The spatial distribution of the population reshapes the regional carriers of mass work. Currently, China has over 300 million mobile people working and living in different places long-term, with the "three-place separation" of household registration location, workplace, and residence becoming normal. The cross-regional, cross-industry, and cross-urban-rural mobility of the population has broken the traditional working model of territorial management.
The demands of the masses are more varied.
The demands of the masses are the entry point and foothold of mass work, and also a direct reflection of the people's aspiration for a better life. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, no matter from which classification, the demands of the masses have become more diversified and complex, displaying composite characteristics interweaving the pursuit of material wealth and spiritual enrichment, individual rights and public interests, and fairness and efficiency, placing higher requirements on the precision, refinement, and systemization of mass work.
People's livelihood demands have been upgraded and improved. Since the 18th National Congress, China has achieved full coverage of basic livelihood security. The people's livelihood demands are no longer limited to basic guarantees such as food and clothing, employment, and housing, but focus more on high-quality and balanced public services. Expectations are more urgent for higher-quality education, more stable income, more reliable social security, better medical care, more livable environment, and improved elderly care services. The focus of the masses' attention on livelihood issues has shifted from basic safeguarding to quality enhancement, from universal coverage to precise matching. The demand for equalization, high quality, and personalization of public services continues to increase. This requires mass work to be based on the goal of common prosperity and to accurately resolve the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development in the livelihood field.
Demands for fairness and justice are increasingly prominent. With the deepening advancement of the rule-of-law state, rule-of-law government, and rule-of-law society in the new era, the masses' awareness of the rule of law, rights, and equality has significantly strengthened. Income distribution gaps, urban-rural regional development differences, allocation of public resources, fairness in law enforcement and judiciary, and protection of labor-capital rights and interests have become high-frequency focal points of mass demands. At the same time, compared with material interests, the masses increasingly value procedural justice, equality of opportunity, and fairness of rules, with greatly heightened sensitivity to the standardized operation of power, fair distribution of public resources, and protection of their own legitimate rights and interests.
Demands for spiritual culture and governance participation continue to grow. In the new era, on the basis of greatly improved material and cultural living standards, the people's spiritual and cultural needs are developing towards high quality, diversification, and personalization. High-quality cultural supply, abundant spiritual life, and space for personal development have become important demands. At the same time, with the deepening practice of whole-process people's democracy, the public's awareness of participation has significantly increased. In particular, the willingness of youth groups and urban middle-income groups to actively participate in grassroots governance, public affairs consultation, and social construction continues to strengthen. The demand for democratic expression, public opinion consultation, and offering suggestions and proposals is growing. Mass work urgently needs to build broad, multi-tiered, and institutionalized platforms for democratic participation.
Demands for security, development, and long-term interests are continuously expanding. Currently, the masses' comprehensive and forward-looking demands regarding ecological and environmental protection, network information security, protection of property rights, protection of minors' rights and interests, grassroots risk prevention and control, and social stability governance continue to increase. At the same time, mass demands show distinct dynamic and networked characteristics. Online platforms have become an important arena for expressing public opinion. Individual scattered demands are easily aggregated and fermented through the internet, transforming into social public issues, presenting an overlapping situation where individual demands and group demands intertwine, short-term interests and long-term interests intertwine, and reasonable demands and emotional expressions intertwine. The difficulty of coordinating interests, resolving conflicts, and guiding public opinion has significantly increased, posing a test to the systematic response capability of mass work.
The environment for mass work is more complex.
Mass work, as a practical activity, is always carried out in a certain economic-social, technological-public opinion, and ideological-cultural environment. Changes in the environment can directly affect or even determine the methods and approaches of mass work. In the new era, the revolutionary changes in digital technology, the profound transformation of social governance, and the clash and collision of diverse values have greatly changed the traditional single offline pattern of mass work, forming a complex working environment where online virtual space and offline physical space are linked, traditional governance risks and new-type network risks intertwine, and internal governance pressures and external conceptual impacts overlap.
The internet, short video platforms, social media, etc., have restructured the logic of information dissemination and the pathways of public opinion expression. The arenas where the masses obtain information, express demands, exchange views, and build consensus have continuously shifted online. Online space has distinct characteristics of fast propagation speed, strong fission effect, wide cross-domain linkage, and virtualization of identity. At the same time, the rapidly developing digital technology, with its "two-way empowerment," also empowers and enhances mass work. This poses new tests for Party members and cadres in digital literacy, online governance capability, and public opinion handling ability.
In the offline grassroots governance field, the causes of contradictions are diverse and intertwined. With the continuous advancement of new-type urbanization and integrated urban-rural development, the free flow of urban and rural factors and the diversified development of interest subjects mean that grassroots contradictions exhibit characteristics of unresolved stock, superimposed increment, and interweaving of old and new. High-frequency livelihood contradictions such as land acquisition and demolition, property management, neighborhood disputes, labor-capital conflicts, and property rights disputes persist. Historical遗留 (yí liú - "leftover") issues and new-type social governance problems intertwine and interconnect with each other. The fragmented governance model of a single department or single field is difficult to effectively resolve. Under such circumstances, mass work has more contact points, wider risk points, and stronger correlation. The work pressure for normalizing contradiction investigation, source resolution, and diversified coordination continues to increase.
The ideological education environment is becoming increasingly complex. Against the backdrop of globalization and informatization, various social trends of thought quickly penetrate and spread through online channels. The masses' value orientations are becoming increasingly diverse, and the differences, independence, and selectivity of ideological cognition are significantly enhanced. Some masses, especially youth groups, are easily influenced by one-sided trends of thought and negative public opinion, leading to cognitive偏差 (piān chā - "deviations") and value confusion, bringing challenges to the guidance of mainstream ideology, the cohesion of social consensus, and the unity of Party and masses.
Doing mass work well in the new era amidst grasping changes.
To do mass work well in the new era, we must adhere to the unity of problem orientation and goal orientation, accurately grasp the changes in objects, respond to the changes in demands, and adapt to the changes in environment, continuously raising the level of mass work through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground.
Accurately identify objects, promoting the transformation of mass work from "coarse coverage" to "targeted policy implementation." Aiming at the characteristics of diversification, fragmentation, and mobility of mass work objects, establish a normalized mechanism for analyzing and assessing the structure of the masses, accurately grasp the population size, distribution characteristics, interests and demands, and ideological trends of different groups. Strive to fill the work gaps in weak areas such as the new social stratum, mobile population, and flexible employees, innovate organizational connections and contact service methods adapted to the "social person" state, combine the advantageous experience of traditional mass work with modern information technology methods, and achieve "one key opens one lock."
Accurately match demands, promoting the transformation of mass work from "passive response" to "active governance." Aiming at the multi-level, composite, and dynamic characteristics of mass demands, establish a full-chain working mechanism for collecting, classifying, handling, and giving feedback on mass demands. Use big data and other means to strengthen analysis and prediction of public opinion, achieving action before requests are made and governance at the source. Unify resolving livelihood pain points with responding to fairness concerns, and coordinate meeting spiritual and cultural needs with expanding channels for democratic participation. We must not only handle the specific matters that the masses urgently need and worry about but also improve long-term mechanisms for safeguarding the interests of the masses, effectively enhancing the systematicness and forward-looking nature of mass work.
Accurately adapt to the environment, promoting the transformation of mass work from "primarily offline" to "online-offline integration." Aiming at the trend of cyberspace becoming a new arena for mass work, strive to enhance the online governance capability of Party members and cadres, take the online mass line of the new era well, and be adept at using online platforms to gather public opinion, resolve contradictions, and build consensus. At the same time, consolidate the foundation of offline grassroots governance, improve diverse mediation and collaborative governance mechanisms, and enhance the coverage and effectiveness of mass work through online-offline linkage.
Return to TopBy: 薛侃
Education, science and technology, and talent are the foundational and strategic pillars of Chinese-style modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping, based on the overall situation of Chinese-style modernization, has creatively put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new judgments concerning education, science and technology, and talent, profoundly elucidating the mutual relationships and mechanisms of action among the three, and revealing the basic laws and intrinsic requirements for promoting the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent in the new era. Innovation-driven development is essentially talent-driven; talent growth depends on the education system, and scientific and technological progress is rooted in talent support. Promoting them as one whole means opening up the circulatory channels among the three, so that the talent cultivated by education can support scientific and technological innovation, the achievements generated by scientific and technological innovation can in turn nourish educational upgrading, and the creative value of talent can be fully realized in industrial development. Yangpu District is a national innovative urban district and an important承载区 (承载区, "bearing area") of the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, with more than ten well-known universities and numerous research institutes gathered within the region. In the practice of promoting the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, we adhere to General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions as the fundamental guideline, by strengthening Party leadership, deepening institutional mechanism reforms, and promoting the synergy of subjects, strategic coordination, element interconnection, mechanism coupling, and effectiveness multiplication among education, science and technology, and talent.
Taking the strengthening of Party leadership as the guide, we improve the integrated mechanism for overall coordination and promotion implementation. Education, science and technology, and talent belong to different social subsystems, with natural separations in geographical space, knowledge domains, and organizational mechanisms. To solve the problems of "fighting one's own battle" (各自为战) and chain disconnection, Party leadership must run through the entire process and all aspects of education reform and development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation. By strengthening political guidance and organization, we build a promotion system that is horizontally coordinated, vertically integrated, and holistically linked, enhancing the consistency and matching of various work efforts, thereby producing a fusion effect of "1+1+1>3." We insist on placing education reform and development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation within the overall situation of regional development for unified planning. The District Party Committee provides unified leadership in compiling relevant plans, implementing institutional reforms, formulating special policies, taking the lead in forming a district-school-enterprise development community, jointly promoting major projects, centrally allocating innovative elements such as data and finance, cultivating open application scenarios, and forming a "one chessboard" (一盘棋) situation for the entire district with strategic alignment, simultaneous promotion, and coordinated resource allocation.
Taking the building of integrated platforms as the traction, we promote precise supply-demand matching and efficient resource integration for education, science and technology, and talent. Innovation platforms driven by major missions are problem-oriented experimental fields for educational reform, demand-led engines for scientific and technological innovation, and highlands for value-co-creating talent development. They can discover and transform fresh research topics from frontier unknown areas and common industrial demands, gather various innovation entities for systematic tackling, realize the fusion and inheritance of knowledge in the process of organized innovation, and cultivate top-notch talents with interdisciplinary vision, original innovation ability, and engineering practice capability. They have the most direct effect on promoting integrated development. Yangpu District insists on treating high-energy-level platforms as the key hub and core carrier for the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. Together with universities, research institutes, and leading enterprises, it builds a matrix of high-energy-level platforms, gathering global wisdom and delving into basic research through basic research cooperation and frontier cross-innovation platforms, giving birth to disruptive technologies "from 0 to 1"; relying on high-level incubators to provide concept verification and entrepreneurship services, supporting the key leap "from 1 to 10" from technology to product; deepening the reform of university science parks, strengthening the ecological hub function, creating a "first stop" for innovation and entrepreneurship for teachers and students, effectively supporting the deep integration and co-evolution of education, science and technology, and talent. The output volume and landing rate of national and municipal major scientific and technological achievements have increased year by year, and high-level, compound talents are accelerating their convergence.
Taking the strengthening of factor supply as support, we create a good ecosystem for integrated development. In an organic innovation system, the flow efficiency of various elements determines the operation performance of the system. Financial capital, data resources, and spatial carriers, as basic input factors for innovation activities, have their allocation methods directly affecting the coupling quality of the education, science and technology, and talent systems. Only by continuously improving and perfecting the factor supply system, promoting the efficient flow and optimal allocation of key innovation elements such as funds, data, and scenarios among the education, science and technology, and talent systems, can we build a more vibrant innovation ecosystem. We guide financial capital to accurately empower, constructing a financial support system that covers the entire chain of scientific and technological innovation and the full cycle of talent development, giving full play to the role of government guidance funds, attracting social funds to develop long-term capital and patient capital, investing in early-stage hard technology and talent entrepreneurship, and accelerating the formation of a virtuous cycle of "technology-finance-industry." We fully activate the value of data elements, continuously increase the reform and innovation of public data development and utilization, promote the coordination of data elements with factors such as labor and capital, use data flow to lead technology flow, capital flow, and talent flow, break through the constraints of traditional resource elements, and improve total factor productivity. We strengthen the support of spatial carriers, combining the promotion of high-quality urban renewal and the revitalization of inefficient land use, achieving urban spatial reconstruction, functional layout optimization, and quality improvement on a larger scale and deeper level, upgrading and releasing more spatial carriers that are compatible with the new "trinity" (三位一体) pattern of education, science and technology, and talent.
Taking the demand of industrial development as the orientation, we vigorously develop new quality productive forces. Industry is the actual field where education, science and technology, and talent converge and integrate, and also the ultimate yardstick for testing the effectiveness of promoting the three as one. Industry connects talent cultivation and scientific and technological innovation on the supply side with consumption upgrading and value realization on the demand side. It is the decisive link for completing the closed loop of innovation from concept to achievement to benefit. The demand of industrial innovation guides the direction of scientific and technological innovation and also tests the effectiveness of talent cultivation. Only by adhering to the specific demands of traditional industry transformation and upgrading, emerging industry cultivation and expansion, and future industry forward-looking layout, and promoting the deep integration of the education chain, talent chain, innovation chain, and industrial chain, can the advantages of scientific and technological resources be continuously transformed into developmental advantages. To deepen the collaborative development of education and industry, the key is to promote the close connection between higher education and industrial development, build an education system that integrates vocational and general education, industry and education, and science and education, and actively explore new models and new paths for the independent cultivation of top-notch innovative talents. To promote the integrated innovation of science and technology and industry, it is necessary both to increase the supply of high-quality science and technology through supporting school-enterprise joint research and promoting technology trading, thereby leading industrial innovation, and to guide leading enterprises to take the lead in forming innovation consortia and strengthen their position as innovation subjects, using industrial innovation demands to pull scientific and technological innovation breakthroughs. To promote the two-way push of talent and industry, we comprehensively use various methods such as talent recruitment through competitions, school-enterprise joint training, comprehensive authorization for talent management, and integrated personalized services, to improve the precision, effectiveness, and systematicness of attracting, cultivating, using, and retaining talent needed by industry. In practice, we insist on deploying and promoting the construction of an innovative modern industrial system centered on digital intelligence economy together with education, science and technology, and talent work, effectively promoting the simultaneous improvement of regional economic quality and scientific and technological innovation capability, with leading industries maintaining high-speed growth for many consecutive years.
(The author is the Secretary of the Yangpu District Committee of Shanghai)
By: 蔡昉
In the first half of 2026, China's economic growth and operation continued the development trend of overall stability, momentum turning new, and structure turning superior, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. Major macroeconomic indicators were within a reasonable range, but also showed trends of structural adjustment and intensified creative destruction. Overall, the Chinese economy has not been troubled by cyclical fluctuations, but needs to address many problems and challenges in development, in transition, and of a structural nature. Facing a complex and changing external environment, as well as the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in the transformation of the domestic growth model, implementing a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, fully leveraging the effectiveness of various existing policies, promptly planning and introducing pragmatic and effective incremental policies, increasing counter-cyclical adjustment intensity, intensifying efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply — the Chinese economy can strive for better results on the basis of being within a reasonable range, and smoothly advance toward the goals of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan and 2035.
The supply side is within the reasonable range of the macroeconomy. The Chinese economy is in a virtuous circle of stable operation, turning new and improving. In the first quarter of 2026, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate reached 5.0%, and for the first half of the year it was 4.7%, comfortably within the 4.5%–5.0% speed range set at the beginning of the year. Moreover, this speed also matches the predicted potential growth rate, meeting the growth rate requirement for becoming a moderately developed country by 2035 in terms of per capita GDP. Achieving this grand goal requires that per capita GDP at least double from the 2020 base of $10,627. From another perspective, according to the World Bank classification standard, to enter the middle third of high-income countries, per capita GDP must cross the threshold level of approximately $22,000–$24,000. On the basis that per capita GDP in 2025 had already reached $13,863 in constant 2020 prices, per capita GDP needs to achieve an average annual real growth of 4.4%. Since China's population has entered a stage of declining growth, the total GDP growth rate only needs to be 4.2%. Considering the factor supply and total factor productivity growth under the background of aging, to achieve the goal of 'per capita GDP reaching the level of moderately developed countries,' and working backwards from the long-term goal of doubling compared to 2020 (2020 constant prices), GDP needs to grow at an average annual rate of 4.17% during the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan and Sixteenth Five-Year Plan periods. This means that the current growth rate can ensure the expected goals are met. At the same time, considering that reforms in key areas can accelerate total factor productivity growth, the release of reform dividends can help achieve better economic growth results. Beyond the reform dividends in institutional mechanisms, an even greater increase in total factor productivity is expected from the new round of technological revolution represented by artificial intelligence. The new technologies, new fields, and new industries driven by artificial intelligence, as well as the digital-intelligent transformation of traditional industries, have already accelerated the conversion of old and new growth drivers. According to estimates by the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局), in the first half of 2026, new growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, digital-intelligent economy, and modern services have contributed over 40% to economic growth.
Generally speaking, when the actual growth rate is consistent with the potential growth rate, the actual unemployment rate is roughly at the natural rate of unemployment, which in macroeconomic terms means full employment. That is to say, corresponding to economic growth being within a reasonable range, the labor market is also on a normal track; the unemployment rate only reflects structural problems, accompanied by customary seasonal fluctuations, and there is no cyclical unemployment. In the full year of 2025 and the first half of 2026, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, exactly matching the natural unemployment rate estimated by academia. It can be seen that neither the surveyed urban unemployment rate nor the youth unemployment rate has shown abnormal fluctuations; they only reflect mismatches in the labor market, or structural employment contradictions. This contradiction is the result of accelerated technological change and industrial structure adjustment, and is amplified by the application of artificial intelligence. It manifests as simultaneous job creation and job displacement, persistent structural contradictions, the normalization of new forms of employment, and employment difficulties faced by youth and older workers.
The three carriages of demand are forming a new balance. The robustness and sustainability of economic growth need to be supported by both supply and demand factors. As the effects of growth driver conversion become increasingly evident, and with both potential growth capacity and actual growth performing strongly, the constraints on China's economic growth are gradually shifting to the demand side. At the same time, among the three carriages of demand factors, a new balance is forming between net exports of goods and services, capital formation (investment), and final consumption. The aggregate social demand driving economic growth maintains sufficient resilience, and sustainability is also strengthening, while shortcomings and blockages still exist. To understand the macroeconomic situation and find effective breakthroughs to break bottleneck constraints, one must fully understand the current status and trends on the demand side.
From the perspective of external demand, in the first half of 2026, China's exports and imports were both very strong, highlighting the new comparative advantages that the Chinese economy is forming. At the same time, affected by military conflicts, geopolitics, and trade frictions, the world economy is showing weakness and uncertainty, becoming an unfavorable external factor. The International Monetary Fund's forecast for world economic growth in 2026 is significantly lower than the 3.5% in 2025; the forecast was 3.3% in January, lowered to 3.1% in April, and further reduced to 3.0% in July. As the world's second-largest economy and largest trader of goods, China's exports are constrained both by world economic growth and trade patterns, as well as by trade frictions created by some countries. According to World Bank calculations using the balance of payments framework, China's trade surplus in goods reached $1.06 trillion in 2025, while the United States, which consistently blames other countries for its own economic problems and constantly creates trade frictions, had a trade deficit in goods as high as $1.24 trillion. From this, it is not difficult to foresee the trade protectionist attitudes and actions that the United States will adopt.
From the perspective of investment demand, with the transformation of development mode and conversion of growth drivers, significant results have been achieved in forming new productive forces, cultivating and expanding emerging industries, and comprehensively rectifying involution-style competition – results reflected in the optimization trend of investment structure. For example, in the first half of 2026, in industries such as aerospace and equipment manufacturing, electronic and communication equipment manufacturing, AI-related integrated circuit manufacturing, intelligent vehicle equipment manufacturing, green transformation, and industries related to enhancing resilience, both investment amounts and value-added growth formed bright spots, indicating that new growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy and intelligent economy, and modern services are accelerating their formation. At the same time, it must be noted that under the circumstances of the disappearance of the traditional demographic dividend and slowing total factor productivity growth, large-scale investment to maintain labor productivity growth will lead to diminishing returns on capital, with the rate of return on investment declining correspondingly, resulting in weak investment willingness and a decline in actual growth. It is urgent to activate more sustainable demand factors that support economic growth.
From the perspective of final consumption, household consumption also exhibits structural adjustment features such as transforming forms, filling shortcomings, and opening new sources, manifested in the market as relatively fast growth in online retail, rural retail, and service retail. At the same time, the consumer price index has rebounded somewhat, also indicating improvement in expectations and confidence. The digital-intelligent economy provides consumers with new feelings and experiences of products or services through higher quality and faster services; although some have not yet translated into price increases or expenditure increases, they enhance consumption satisfaction in the form of consumer surplus. Due to factors such as the fading effect of previous subsidy policies and the incomplete adjustment of the consumption structure, consumption growth measured by total retail sales of consumer goods is not yet strong enough. In other words, among the three carriages, household consumption has not yet shouldered the major responsibility of supporting economic growth from the demand side.
Understand the old problems and new challenges in development. The Chinese economy, having entered a higher stage of development, is experiencing an accelerating conversion of old and new growth drivers, facing more problems in transformation and development. The long-standing problem of strong supply and weak demand not only persists but also has new manifestations under the new background. For example, AI models and tools emerge one after another, affecting many aspects such as labor productivity, business models, and the labor market, posing new challenges on both the supply and demand sides. To proactively address new challenges, we must make full use of the creative destruction mechanism to promote the formation of new productive forces, while also avoiding the impact of structural adjustment on employment and residents' livelihoods. The general principle is that although enterprises inevitably experience 优胜劣汰 (yōu shèng liè tài – "the superior win, the inferior are eliminated," survival of the fittest), workers should not be divided into winners and losers.
In understanding the economic situation from the supply side, we should see both the accelerated formation of new growth drivers and the accelerated disappearance of old growth drivers. This structural adjustment is an inevitable process in the formation of new productive forces. It will ultimately manifest as the growth and decline of new and old in the stock of production capacity, and the differentiation between strong and weak in the increment of production capacity. This inevitably leads to the deepening of structural employment contradictions. While old problems are continuously being solved, new challenges also emerge. The disruptive breakthroughs and widespread application of artificial intelligence will inevitably bring more severe creative destruction problems. There is an urgent need to make institutional arrangements to promote job creation and strengthen social security, ensuring that the dividends of labor productivity are equally shared.
In understanding the economic situation from the demand side, we should see both the urgency of accelerating the structural transformation of the three carriages and the fact that raising the household consumption rate is a task that requires comprehensive policy measures and 久久为功 (jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng – "persist over time to achieve results," sustained effort). In both statistical and economic senses, the share of household consumption in GDP (consumption rate) is not the same as the contribution rate of consumption to GDP growth. The purpose of conventional counter-cyclical macroeconomic policy is, when one demand factor is hit, to adopt appropriate policies to mobilize other demand factors, ensuring that economic growth does not slow down due to insufficient aggregate demand. Because the household consumption rate is affected by longer-term factors—for example, this indicator shows a significant positive correlation with the share of household income and the share of labor compensation, with correlation coefficients of 0.89 and 0.76 respectively—it will not automatically increase when the contribution rates of exports and investment decline. It must be cultivated as a capacity through substantive investment.
Use investment in people to break the pattern of strong supply and weak demand. Breaking the pattern of strong supply and weak demand requires both relying on counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies and transcending short-term and single measures, enriching and unblocking the policy toolbox, and 融会贯通 (róng huì guàn tōng – "to integrate and understand thoroughly," to achieve mastery through comprehensive understanding) various policy concepts and implementation means. To raise the household consumption rate, we should consider both consumption capacity and willingness, unify macroeconomic policy, industrial policy, social policy, etc., under a common goal, and leverage their respective unique advantages. Successful practices in safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods during development show that implementing the concept of shared development and substantially increasing the intensity of investment in people can significantly raise the household consumption rate. For example, precisely because of the increased intensity of investment in people, during the period when the average consumption rate of high-income and upper-middle-income countries was declining, China's household consumption rate rose from 34.9% to 40.0% between 2010 and 2025. In approximately the same period (2010–2024), the share of China's GDP used for labor compensation, social insurance benefits, and social subsidies increased significantly from 52.6% to 61.2%.
The trinity of expanding employment, increasing income, and stabilizing expectations constitutes the foundation and long-term mechanism for expanding household consumption. Because industrial structural change continuously alters employment forms, job types, and skill requirements, the structural employment contradiction is not only a normal state but also strengthened by the penetration of AI. Therefore, proactive employment policies also need to form an upgraded version—through rights protection, skill enhancement, and improvement of matching levels—to stabilize employment quantity and improve employment quality, thereby increasing household income. In addition, increasing income and improving distribution are 相辅相成 (xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng – "mutually complementary and reinforcing") requirements. While increasing labor compensation through the human resources market, it is also necessary to narrow income gaps through primary distribution and redistribution. Sharing the fruits of modernization and the dividends of artificial intelligence through institutional construction has the effect of stabilizing expectations, and thereby enhancing consumption capacity and willingness.
Both the commonality of modernization and China's national conditions indicate that implementing redistribution at a higher stage of development usually takes the form of raising the supply level and equalization degree of basic public services. As per capita income levels rise, the increase in quantity, improvement in level, and expansion in scope of public goods supply is a universal law. China is about to enter the ranks of high-income countries as measured by per capita GDP, and is only one step away from the goal of basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035. The improvement in quality of life will increasingly need to be met by high-quality basic public services. China will also continuously accompany the demographic trend marked by declining birthrates and aging. Implementing population support policies for the entire population and the whole life cycle is highly consistent with building a basic public service system in both goals and means. In this process, the livelihood challenges and productivity opportunities brought by artificial intelligence require, on the one hand, significantly enhancing the universal, basic, and safety-net role of basic public services, and on the other hand, providing them with stronger national financial support.
The increase in the household consumption rate must be achieved at a higher level of supply-demand balance. From the supply side, we should make good use of various means created by internet platforms and AI models to provide more high-quality products and services, transform the technology dividend into a huge consumer market, and create better consumption experiences to expand consumer surplus. From the demand side, on the one hand, with the increase in household income and the improvement of income distribution, we should gradually upgrade demand for ordinary goods with low demand elasticity to demand for high-quality goods with greater demand elasticity, unlocking huge demand potential. On the other hand, with the development of declining birthrates and aging, new basic needs represented by the elderly and children will still emerge, creating the possibility of a structurally super-large market. We must do a good job in service guarantees for the elderly and children, and improve the stratified and categorized social assistance system. Good integration of the supply and demand sides requires comprehensive use of policy measures to achieve practical results in implementing investment in people.
(The author is a member of the Academic Division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院).)
Return to TopThe "15th Five-Year Plan for the Modernization of the Emergency Response System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") proposes to take high-level safety as the theme to ensure high-quality development, to take promoting the transformation of governance models toward pre-event prevention as the main line, to comprehensively enhance the capabilities of disaster prevention and reduction, disaster resistance and fortification, and disaster relief and guarantee, to resolutely curb major and extraordinarily serious accidents, to effectively prevent major dangerous incidents and relatively serious accidents, and to minimize losses from natural disasters. It also sets the target requirements that by 2030, a governance model centered on pre-event prevention will be effectively established. Focusing on accelerating the transformation of governance models toward pre-event prevention, the Study Times High-End Think Tank Edition (学习时报高端智库版) conducts an in-depth discussion.
Return to TopBy: 游志斌
During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China's development is in a period where strategic opportunities and risks and challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors increase. The Plan proposes four tasks to accelerate the transformation of the emergency management governance model toward prevention before events: improving source control mechanisms, strengthening monitoring, forecasting, and early warning, raising the level of intrinsic safety, and building safe and resilient urban and rural areas. Correspondingly, a special column for the capacity-building project for pre-event prevention is set, including four categories of key projects: natural disaster monitoring and early warning, production safety monitoring and early warning, industry intrinsic safety improvement, and disaster prevention and mitigation infrastructure. This is of great strategic significance for effectively preventing and resolving major security risks and safeguarding the new development pattern with a new security architecture.
Deeply grasp the transformation requirements of the pre-event prevention model. The core content of promoting the transformation of the emergency management governance model toward pre-event prevention is a major shift from general prevention and passive response to systematic proactive prevention in the handling of emergencies. This is an important measure to fully implement the people-centered development philosophy and prevent and resolve major risks in the new stage of development. This transformation is an inherent requirement of the laws governing emergency response, an inevitable direction for emergency management work in the context of advancing Chinese-style modernization, and a requirement of major strategic tasks deployed by the Party Central Committee.
Inherent requirements of the laws governing emergency response. The casualties and property losses caused by some major emergencies are shocking, and some even affect national security and the survival of the nation. In responding to major emergencies, a large amount of human, material, and financial resources are often required. Compared with rescue and relief operations and post-incident handling after an emergency, or even tragic casualties and property losses, pre-event measures such as planning and design, engineering fortification, early warning, and timely evacuation — "repairing the roof before it rains" (weiyu choumu, "bind the thatch before the rain") — have the lowest cost and the least price. It is necessary to comply with the laws of emergency response and "prevent trouble before it happens" (fanghuan yu weiran). Specifically, in terms of natural disasters, it is not yet possible to prevent the occurrence of natural hazard factors such as earthquakes, typhoons, and heavy rainfall. The focus should be on reducing exposure, vulnerability, and disaster chain effects; avoiding people and important facilities entering high-risk areas; reducing the vulnerability of buildings, structures, infrastructure, and social groups; blocking or slowing down secondary and derivative disasters; and improving the ability of key functions to continue operating under impact. In terms of accidents and disasters, these are often caused by a combination of factors such as equipment defects, process anomalies, illegal operations, organizational management, and the external environment. The focus of governance cannot remain solely on passive remediation after an accident; rather, it should trace back to front-end tasks and links such as planning and site selection, design and manufacturing, construction and installation, operation and maintenance, personnel training, contract management, and supervision and enforcement. The focus should be on controlling hazards and improving intrinsic safety. In terms of public health incidents, public health risks may have characteristics such as hidden sources and imperceptible transmission chains. The focus should be on seizing the "window of opportunity" for early identification and intervention. In terms of social safety incidents, social safety risks are closely related to interest relations, social psychology, behavioral interactions, and information dissemination. Some risks also have characteristics such as individual subjective intentionality and implementation strategy, making it difficult to make completely accurate predictions based solely on historical data and cases. The focus of intervention for such incidents lies in source governance, lawful intervention, and risk communication. Based on this, by grasping the laws and adopting pre-event measures such as risk classification of emergencies, cost-benefit assessment, and acceptable risk judgment, prevention work can be made more precise, more effective, and more critical.
The inherent meaning of advancing Chinese-style modernization. Emergency management is an important component of the national governance system and governance capacity. Chinese-style modernization adheres to putting the people at the center, and people's safety is a major proposition of primary consideration. At the same time, the level of governance of emergency risk is also an important yardstick for testing the progress and effectiveness of the modernization of national governance. China has a huge population size. Elements such as megacities and super-large cities, urban agglomerations, water supply, electricity supply, gas and heat supply, communications, and medical care are prone to overlap and coupling. The relevance, derivation, complexity, and coupling of major emergencies have significantly increased. Through unremitting efforts, in 2024, the number of deaths from workplace accidents nationwide decreased by 28.4% compared with the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, and the number of major and extraordinarily large accidents dropped to single digits for the first time after the founding of New China, a decrease of 43.8% compared with the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. It is worth noting that in some construction engineering fields, stubborn and chronic problems such as illegal subcontracting and assignment still exist. These are not only key factors in some accidents but also problems that must be solved in Chinese-style modernization. Looking at some major incidents in the construction engineering field in recent years, such as the collapse of the retaining wall at the Wulongkou Locomotive Parking Lot during the "7·20" extraordinarily heavy rain and flood disaster in Zhengzhou in 2021, the "2·22" coal mine collapse in Alxa, Inner Mongolia in 2023, the "5·1" collapse on the Chayang section of the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Guangdong in 2024, the "7·19" expressway bridge collapse in Shangluo, Shaanxi in 2024, and the "8·22" major collapse accident at the Jianzha Yellow River Super Bridge construction project on the Xi'an-Chengdu Railway in 2025. The main causes of these incidents include chaotic design, construction, and supervision; undertaking business without qualifications; illegal subcontracting and assignment; substituting management with contracting, and only contracting without managing. Therefore, it is urgent to solve prominent problems at the national governance level such as engineering project design fraud, procurement irregularities, and illegal subcontracting and assignment. Advancing Chinese-style modernization inevitably requires better coordinating development and security, pushing the threshold of safety governance work forward, and effectively placing the protection of the people's lives and property in the primary position of economic and social development decision-making, public investment, and daily governance.
Important measures to implement major strategic decisions and deployments. The transformation toward pre-event prevention in the field of emergency management is a major strategic task deployed by the Party Central Committee. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Party set "continuous improvement of the mechanisms for preventing and resolving major risks" as a main goal of the national economic and social development plan, rather than a general planning content. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Party made a strategic blueprint, clearly stating "adhere to putting safety first and focusing on prevention, establish a framework for comprehensive safety and comprehensive emergency response, improve the public safety system, and promote the transformation of the public safety governance model toward prevention before events." The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party once again emphasized "promoting the transformation of the public safety governance model toward prevention before events." In recent years, the Party Central Committee has deployed a series of major tasks and key projects in this field, such as the three-year campaign to tackle the root causes of workplace safety accidents during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. As of September 2025, localities had cumulatively investigated more than 1.16 million major hidden dangers, with a rectification rate of 98.4%. Among them, the proportion of self-inspection by enterprises increased from 37.1% at the beginning of the campaign to the current 52.5%, with remarkable results. This fully reflects the historical responsibility of the Communist Party of China on the new journey of the new era to meet major challenges and work for the well-being and safety of the people.
The transformation of the governance model faces practical challenges at two levels. To promote the transformation of the emergency management governance model toward pre-event prevention, it is necessary to prevent and resolve major safety risks, respond to and handle various emergencies in a timely manner, and protect the safety of people's lives and property and maintain social stability. However, from the actual situation, achieving the transformation of the governance model toward pre-event prevention is not easy and faces a series of severe challenges.
At the overall level, China is one of the countries with the most severe natural disasters in the world. Various types of accident hazards and safety risks are intertwined and superimposed, occurring frequently and easily. Workplace safety is still in a critical period of climbing over a ridge, tackling tough problems. For the whole year of 2025, various natural disasters caused 67.0337 million person-times across the country to be affected to varying degrees, 763 people dead or missing, 3.6292 million person-times in need of emergency relocation and resettlement or emergency living assistance; 57,000 houses collapsed, 709,000 houses damaged; 6069.4 thousand hectares of crops were affected; and direct economic losses were 241.617 billion yuan. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China concentrated its efforts on implementing the reinforcement project for 17,998 dangerous reservoirs, strengthened reservoir capacity management, organized the review of the capacity curves of large and medium-sized reservoirs undertaking flood control tasks, promoted reservoir dredging and remediation, and seriously investigated and dealt with illegal acts such as encroaching on reservoir capacity and affecting flood control safety. Reservoir functions have been effectively restored, but major risks and challenges concerning reservoirs persist. Recently, affected by Typhoon Maysak, many areas in Guangxi experienced persistent heavy rainfall, causing severe flood disasters. The Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou, Nanning, experienced overtopping and breach incidents, resulting in heavy casualties. In addition, some localities and enterprises do not firmly establish the concept of safe development, and the implementation of workplace safety laws and regulations standards is not strict enough; the industrial layout and structural adjustment optimization of high-risk industries such as hazardous chemicals, mines, and fireworks and firecrackers are still not in place; the problem of small, scattered, and chaotic enterprises has not been fundamentally solved; the degree of mechanization, automation, and informatization is not high enough; the risk structure in the field of workplace safety has undergone certain changes; the existing risks in traditional high-risk industries have not been effectively resolved; and the incremental risks brought by new processes, new materials, and new business formats are increasing. Currently and for some time to come, with the continuous development of industrialization, urbanization, and internationalization, the flow of various production factors is accelerating, safety risks are more concentrated, and the concealment, suddenness, and coupling of public health incidents and social safety incidents objectively exist, which may directly erupt or become prominent under certain circumstances.
In specific categories, there are mainly several aspects that require special attention. First, natural disasters. The prevention of such disasters is first subject to many factors such as prediction technology and capability. For example, the precise prediction of earthquakes is a worldwide problem, and it is also very difficult to predict extreme rainfall and precipitation. In 2021, the "7·20" extraordinarily heavy rain and flood disaster in Zhengzhou saw extreme rainfall of 201.9 mm in one hour. At the same time, converting probabilistic information in emergency warning information into appropriate action is not a simple matter. If the warning threshold for meteorological disasters is set too high, the window for evacuation and risk avoidance may be missed; if set too low, it may increase the cost of work stoppages and personnel relocation. Frequent inaccuracies or false alarms can also lead to warning fatigue and slack in response.
Second, accidents and disasters. Although accidents and disasters are relatively more preventable, risks are often intertwined with process equipment, management systems, employee capabilities, and the working environment. The same site may simultaneously involve multiple links such as planning and construction, industry licensing, fire inspection and acceptance, special equipment, electricity and gas use, personnel training, and daily operation. A lack of standards, weak implementation, or regulatory disconnection in any link can accumulate, superimpose, or transform into systemic risks.
Third, public health incidents. Early signals of public health incidents may be scattered across medical institutions, laboratories, schools, ports, communities, and online information. It is difficult for a single point to judge whether an anomaly exists or whether it poses a public risk. If data standards differ, reporting chains are too long, or cross-regional coordination is insufficient, scattered signals are difficult to transform into joint assessment in a timely manner. Once the risk enters a phase of rapid transmission, medical treatment, medicines and supplies, and grassroots services may face peak pressure in the short term. Insufficient pre-event preparation will rapidly amplify the difficulty of response. Prevention mechanisms require not only professional institutions to quickly initiate investigations and preparations based on abnormal signals but also the establishment of risk classification, dynamic assessment, information disclosure, and exit systems.
Fourth, social safety incidents. The root causes of problems, information transmission, triggering factors, interest trade-offs, conflict outbreaks, and governance boundaries in such incidents are more complex. Social safety risks are often not the result of the accumulation of a single physical variable but interact with interest conflicts, information dissemination, social psychology, and risk communication. The prevention of such incidents especially requires unifying safety outcomes with the requirements of the rule of law. It involves not only the investigation and resolution of conflicts and disputes, risk assessment for major activities, safety prevention at key venues, and the release of authoritative information, but also the formation of a long-term stable foundation for social safety through grassroots governance, effective communication, and lawful intervention. This poses a very great challenge to emergency management work.
Key points for promoting the transformation of the governance model. Currently, China's emergency management model is in a critical period of transitioning toward pre-event prevention. The Plan prominently emphasizes risk source control, taking the promotion of the governance model's transformation toward pre-event prevention as the main line for improving the national emergency management system. Therefore, the transformation toward pre-event prevention is an important anchor for emergency management work during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.
Comprehensively implement the holistic view of national security, and promote a fundamental change in governance concepts, systems, and mechanisms. Persist in consolidating security amid development and seeking development in security, strengthen bottom-line thinking, strengthen the design and implementation of emergency response systems throughout the entire process and system, strengthen the governance of various emergencies, and effectively prevent and resolve various types of safety risks. In the field of emergency management, model transformation is not simply about "moving the work time point forward." From the perspective of accidents and disasters, they are generally divided into unsafe acts of people, unsafe conditions of objects, unsafe factors of the working environment, and management deficiencies. From the perspective of social safety, emphasis is generally placed on human defense (renfang), physical defense (wufang), and technical defense (jifang). From the overall perspective of emergency response, four key elements need to be considered: institutions, technology, actors, and environment. It requires the governance object to expand from occurred events to risk sources, exposed objects, vulnerability, and transmission chains; the governance process to move from segmented handling to full-cycle closed-loop management; the governance subject to move from single department performance of duties to cross-level, cross-department, cross-regional, and multi-actor coordination; governance tools can leverage artificial intelligence, etc. It is necessary to build a responsibility system matching the risk generation chain, clarifying the government's overall governance responsibility, industry supervision responsibility, territorial responsibility, enterprise main responsibility, and social coordination responsibility. Relying on the deliberative coordination mechanism in the emergency field, we can continuously optimize the governance mechanism of "the Party and government share responsibility, one post with dual responsibilities, joint management with coordination, and accountability for dereliction of duty" (dangzheng tongze, yigang shuangze, qizhuah gongguan, shizhi zhuize). We must clarify and optimize risk judgment norms, governance objectives, data standards, and action standards, promote all levels and departments to continuously optimize resource allocation and responsibility chains, and truly move prevention from periodic special actions to normalization and institutionalized operation.
Systematically advance the full lifecycle management of safe and resilient urban and rural areas. The source control of emergencies first requires embedding safety requirements into the planning, design, development, operation, and maintenance of urban and rural areas, implementing full lifecycle management of planning, construction, operation, maintenance, renewal, and decommissioning. Regarding urban and rural resilience, it is necessary to make long-term arrangements for relocating or avoiding settlement in areas prone to geological and flood disasters, reasonably raise the fortification standards for key infrastructure in important cities and disaster-prone areas, and strengthen the functional continuity of systems such as water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, transportation, communications, and medical care. For natural disaster monitoring facilities, disaster prevention and mitigation infrastructure, and urban lifeline projects, attention should be paid not only to coverage in construction but also to clarifying operation and maintenance entities, calibration and inspection, data quality, spare parts support, and guaranteed funding. Workplace safety work, centered on intrinsic safety, promotes the elimination of backward process equipment, the renewal of old facilities, and the redundancy of key nodes. In territorial spatial planning, industrial layout, major project initiation, urban renewal, engineering construction, and operation and maintenance, emergency risk assessment should be carried out simultaneously. The connection between risk maps, prevention area zoning maps, and planning use controls should be improved. Joint departmental review procedures and safety verification procedures should be improved. For unacceptable risks, priority should be given to reducing the intensity of risk sources through site selection avoidance, design optimization, process substitution, equipment renewal, and use restrictions, avoiding the problem of "constructing first, managing later." Promote the shift from purely post-event accountability to equal emphasis on accountability throughout the entire process of planning, construction, operation, and supervision, alongside post-event accountability. For major risks, implement list-based, responsibility-based, and timeline-based management. For risks that cannot be eliminated temporarily, temporary control measures, monitoring frequency, and exit conditions need to be clearly defined. For new industries and new business formats, establish risk profiles, real-time assessment, and exit mechanisms to prevent long-term blind spots in risk supervision, the phenomenon of "nine dragons governing the waters, each managing a patch" (jiulong zhishui, ge guan yi tan), or simply "banning everything" (yi jin le zhi).
Improve the classification and grading standards for risk investigation, and clarify the prevention priorities for various types of emergencies. Study and establish the prevention priorities, responsibility chains, and action standards for the four major categories of emergencies. Natural disasters highlight spatial avoidance, engineering fortification, monitoring and early warning, and personnel evacuation; accidents and disasters highlight hazard control, intrinsic safety, and enterprise responsibility norms; public health incidents highlight multi-point surveillance, early identification, professional investigation, and resource preparation; social safety incidents highlight conflict resolution, lawful intervention, public communication, rapid intervention, and social coordination. Within the same broad category of emergencies, further grading and specific scenario differentiation should be carried out. Risk levels should be determined by comprehensively considering their probability of occurrence, scope of impact, consequences of loss, speed of transmission, urgency of governance, and population vulnerability. Monitoring frequency, control subjects, resource input, and preparation requirements should be respectively specified. For key venues such as elderly care institutions, hospitals, schools, underground spaces, and hazardous chemical enterprises, scenario-based action checklists or work plans should be formulated around personnel characteristics, building conditions, operating conditions, and external rescue conditions. For low-probability, high-consequence events, preparation for extreme situations (such as catastrophic disasters) cannot be neglected simply because they have rarely occurred historically.
Establish and improve supporting systems such as multi-governance at the grassroots level. Study increasing preventive expenditures such as basic surveys, facility maintenance, engineering disaster reduction, monitoring and early warning, grassroots capacity, and public education. Leverage the guiding role of fiscal funds, comprehensively utilize enterprise safety production fees, workplace safety liability insurance, catastrophe insurance, and social capital to form a risk-sharing mechanism jointly invested by the government, market, and society. According to different categories of emergency risks, promote the sinking of governance resources, professional forces, and applicable tools to counties, townships (sub-districts), and villages (communities), avoiding duplicate reporting and simple accumulation, forming scientifically practical risk maps, responsibility lists, evacuation routes, and resource lists. Enterprises should embed risk assessment and hazard management throughout the entire production and operation process. Communities should organize practical drills around possible risks. Establish corresponding platforms or effective mechanisms to guide professional institutions, insurance institutions, and social organizations to jointly participate in risk assessment, technical testing, accident prevention, and public education. For groups such as the elderly, the disabled, infants and young children, and people with chronic diseases, establish demand registers, targeted risk alerts, paired assistance, differentiated early warnings, and priority evacuation mechanisms. Performance evaluation should shift from lagging indicators focused on accident numbers and losses to risk-control-oriented indicator guidance, emphasizing both outcome indicators and leading indicators, process indicators, and risk reduction benefits. In addition to the number and losses of incidents (accidents), the focus should be on the degree of reduction of major risks, the on-time rate of major hazard management, the completion rate of early warning actions, the functional continuity of key facilities, the coverage rate of vulnerable groups, and the effectiveness of prevention.
[The author is Vice Dean of the Institute of Emergency Management Research, Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance)]
Return to TopBy: 朱伟
Recently, the State Council issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a Modern Emergency Response System," making clear that it takes promoting the transformation of the governance model toward a focus on prevention before incidents as the main line, and proposing the goal and task of "effectively establishing a governance model centered on prevention before incidents" by 2030. This deployment signals that our country's emergency management is undergoing a deep transformation from concept to practice, striving to turn "rescue after the fact" into "prevention before the fact."
Why must it change? The surface is that "rescue after the fact" has high costs and large losses; the deeper level is that fundamental changes in the form of contemporary risks force an upgrade of the governance model. The risks of modern society are no longer isolated, localized, or incidental events, but rather are systemic, chained, and irreversible. This judgment is especially true in the current field of public safety. At present, extreme weather occurs frequently, various types of key infrastructure are closely linked so that a move in one part affects the whole, the safety of urban lifeline systems urgently needs improvement, many infrastructure projects did not adequately consider extreme scenarios at the initial stage of planning and construction, their disaster-bearing capacity is weak, and their resilience reserves are insufficient; new risks triggered by data and algorithms are intertwined and superimposed with traditional disasters, exhibiting characteristics of complexity, chain reaction, and amplification. If emergency management still focuses mainly on "post-incident handling," it is very easy to fall into a passive cycle of "risk accumulation — outbreak of accidents — governance playing catch-up."
Prevention is the most economical and most effective emergency management strategy. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "Persist in preventing and resolving major safety risks at the source, truly solving problems while they are still in the bud and before they become disasters." This is not only a proactive response to the severe risk situation but also a profound reshaping of the governance logic. Promoting the transformation of the governance model toward prevention before incidents is essentially shifting the philosophy of emergency management from passive defense in the mode of 兵来将挡 (bīng lái jiàng dǎng - "soldiers come, generals block," dealing with each problem as it arises without proactive planning) to proactive governance that takes precautions beforehand (未雨绸缪 — wèi yǔ chóu móu - "before it rains, bind the thatch," taking preventive measures in advance). This is not merely an adjustment of methods; it is a fundamental leap in governance philosophy from "incident-centered" to "risk-centered."
What will change? The focus is from emergency response at the end to source prevention and control. The core of transforming the governance model toward prevention before incidents lies in substantially moving the checkpoint for risk prevention and control forward. Specifically, it is necessary to grasp a logical progression at three levels. From the perspective of governance timing, it is a forward shift of the checkpoint. Emergency management is a closed-loop process covering the entire cycle, including preparation and prevention before incidents, emergency rescue during incidents, and recovery and reconstruction after incidents. The prevention-before-incidents model requires that the center of gravity be stably and continuously shifted toward systematic management of potential risks. The ancients said: "Prevention is the best, rescue is next best, and admonition is the worst." Compared with emergency rescue during incidents and recovery and reconstruction after incidents, prevention and preparation before incidents is a more effective, more economical, and safer governance strategy, occupying a leading, foundational, and strategic position in the entire-cycle public safety governance activities. From the perspective of governance objects, it is a shift of focus. The traditional model fixes its eyes on "accidents" — handling accidents and then pursuing accountability after they occur. Prevention before incidents fixes its eyes on "risks" — identifying, evaluating, and controlling risks before they evolve into accidents. The Plan proposes promoting safety rectification in key industries and fields through a whole-chain "one incident" approach, precisely to break the fragmented model of 头痛医头、脚痛医脚 (tóu tòng yī tóu, jiǎo tòng yī jiǎo - "treat the head when the head aches, treat the foot when the foot aches," piecemeal approach that addresses symptoms rather than root causes) and to build a whole-life-cycle governance system covering risk identification, hazard investigation, rectification closure, and responsibility tracing. From the perspective of governance capability, it is an upgrade of structure. Prevention before incidents is not simply "inspecting more times," but a systematic upgrade of governance capability from experience-based judgment to data-driven, model-empowered decision-making. The Plan clearly proposes to promote deep integration of artificial intelligence and emergency management, to achieve early awareness of risk assessment, rapid response in monitoring and early warning, and precision in command and disposal. This means that risk governance is moving from 人海战术 (rén hǎi zhàn shù - "human sea tactics," relying on large numbers of people) to intelligent prevention and control, and from vague perception to precise profiling.
How to change? The key is to embed the character "prevention" into every checkpoint. Transformation of the governance model is not achieved by shouting slogans, but by concrete action. To turn "rescue after the fact" into "prevention before the fact," efforts must be made at critical points. First, tighten source control. Strictly enforce the safety gate in planning, the access gate for projects, and the gate for safety fortification. In key industries such as mining, chemicals, and fireworks and firecrackers, strengthen whole-chain safety supervision and governance, and transmit and consolidate safety responsibilities layer by layer down to the grassroots terminal. The further forward the checkpoint for risk control, the lower the probability of accidents. At the same time, incorporate resilience thinking throughout the entire process of urban planning, construction, and management, raise the disaster-prevention fortification standards and disaster-bearing capacity of urban infrastructure, and simultaneously implement safety resilience requirements in new construction, expansion, and renovation, to truly strengthen intrinsic safety levels from the source. Second, speed up monitoring and early warning. Dense the monitoring and early warning network, extending the tentacles of risk perception to cover the entire area and all times. Integrate multi-source data from meteorology, hydrology, geology, fire protection, transportation, etc., and build a comprehensive monitoring and early warning platform. Strictly implement the mechanism for calling and responding to imminent disaster warnings that reaches grassroots responsible persons directly. One second earlier of early warning means one more unit of safety; this is the most critical time window for prevention before incidents. Third, solidify the grassroots foundation. The grassroots are at the forefront of preventing and resolving major safety risks. Improve the grassroots organizational system, strength system, and material support system, and encourage the masses to discover and report risk hazards. Dense the grid, consolidate responsibilities, and strengthen capabilities, making the grassroots the "first sentinel" for emergency response and the first line of defense for disaster prevention and mitigation. Fourth, strengthen technological empowerment. Accelerate the advancement of safety technology and the intelligent transformation of high-risk industries, using technological upgrades to drive improvement of intrinsic safety levels. Technological forces represented by artificial intelligence are pushing emergency management from "human prevention" to "intelligent prevention." Through smart city systems, a closed-loop prevention and control system of "weather forecast — simulation prediction — early warning release — real-time monitoring — emergency rescue" can be constructed, and large-model technology can also be used to improve the level of safety hazard investigation and governance in "small venues of nine types," advancing from post-incident handling to pre-incident prediction. The more such explorations there are, the stronger the capability for prevention before incidents becomes.
Doing prevention before rescue is the greatest wisdom in emergency management and the most solid protection of the lives and property of the people. To turn "rescue after the fact" into "prevention before the fact," Party committees and governments at all levels need to strengthen their sense of responsibility and commitment; all departments need to converge their work efforts; enterprises need to actively implement their main safety responsibilities; and the whole society needs to participate jointly. Only by internalizing safety concepts in the mind, externalizing them in action, and solidifying them in institutions can a positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level safety be truly achieved.
(The author is a professor at the School of Public Management, University of Science and Technology of China)
Return to TopBy: 纪全民
Currently, unmanned forces are accelerating their entry into the center of the battlefield, and have already acquired the practical capability to alter campaigns and even influence strategic situations. The fact that major military powers are laying out their positions around unmanned swarming operations and unmanned battlefields also indicates that unmanned combat is becoming an important variable that cannot be ignored in future competition. Unmannedization has gradually evolved from a long-range goal of technological development into an important component of actual operational forms. To understand future unmanned operations, one must not remain stuck in the traditional perspective of "what equipment is available" or "how strong its performance is"; one must also conduct in-depth analysis of changes in its organizational methods and the mechanisms by which advantages are formed.
First, three structural changes are occurring in unmanned operations.
Looking at actual combat situations in recent years, the influence of unmanned operations has continued to expand. The root cause lies mainly in structural changes in the way unmanned forces are employed; the improvement in the performance of individual pieces of equipment is insufficient to explain this phenomenon. This change is mainly reflected in the following three aspects.
A shift from purely quantitative employment to systemic employment. Large numbers of unmanned platforms have entered such operational links as reconnaissance, strike, command and control, and sustainment, causing the employment of unmanned platforms to gradually shift from scattered and occasional to sustained input and extensive embedding. Intelligence acquisition shifts from intermittent observation to continuous monitoring; firepower application shifts from single-point guidance to closed loops of the chain; the operational tempo is increasingly shaped by the continuous operation of the unmanned system. Battlefield transparency is constantly increasing, and traditional operational methods that rely on concealment, maneuver, and concentration of forces are subject to greater constraints.
A shift from auxiliary forces to key forces. With improvements in autonomous control, human-machine coordination, and communication capabilities, the scope of tasks for unmanned systems has exceeded traditional auxiliary fields such as reconnaissance, warning, and sustainment, and has gradually become embedded in key links of the operational chain. In multiple operational scenarios, the influence of the unmanned system on intelligence acquisition, fire allocation, and action timing is becoming increasingly prominent, beginning to dictate, to a certain extent, the operational tempo and action windows. At the tactical level, unmanned forces are transforming from "supporting elements" into "key variables."
A shift from the employment of equipment swarms to an organizational method centered on the task chain. The deep-level change in unmanned operations is reflected in the fact that operational activities are beginning to be organized around the task chain. Unmanned and manned forces progress from simple combination to the gradual formation of an intelligent operational system featuring division of labor, coordination, and mutual substitution. Links such as reconnaissance, decision-making, action, and assessment are integrated into a rapidly cycling chain, with different forces linked and operating around the mission objective. This organizational method pushes operations from a "platform-versus-platform" confrontation toward a "chain-versus-chain" competition.
Taken together, these three changes indicate that the organizational focus of unmanned operations is shifting from platform employment to system operation, and from equipment coordination to task-chain coordination. Therefore, whether future unmanned platforms can form actual operational advantages depends not only on numbers and individual equipment performance, but also on whether they can maintain stable and efficient operation after being integrated into the system.
Second, the internal mechanisms by which unmanned operational advantages are formed.
The conversion of the above-mentioned changes into actual operational advantages depends on the joint action of multiple mechanisms. Among them, tempo reshaping, low-cost consumability, and link resilience are important supports for the continuous operation and effective performance of the unmanned operations system. These three mechanisms interact with one another, enabling the unmanned system to possess operational characteristics different from those of traditional combat forces in complex and harsh adversarial environments.
The first is the tempo-reshaping mechanism. Through high-density deployment, continuous succession, and rapid response, the unmanned system reshapes the time structure of the battlefield and further changes the available conditions of the operational space. Stable detection brought about by continuous loitering transforms battlefield perception from fragmented to continuous; rapid decision-making and link transmission compress the time interval between "detection—judgment—strike," significantly narrowing the space for traditional maneuvering and adjustment. The essence of tempo advantage is that systemic operation changes the way time resources are organized in war, causing the operational tempo to become increasingly driven by the operating state of the system.
This tempo change has a cumulative effect. A single reconnaissance, strike, or assessment may only affect a local action. When the unmanned system forms continuous sensing, continuous allocation, and continuous feedback, multiple local actions become connected into a continuously running operational process. Even if an adversary can cope with a single action, they will be in a passive state for a long time because the time for recovery, maneuver, and reorganization is constantly compressed. The time windows needed for troop concentration, equipment transfer, and sustainment replenishment are accordingly reduced. Local time gaps gradually evolve into an overall tempo gap, and thus the time advantage of unmanned operations expands from a single time point to the entire operational process. Sustained pressure on tempo will also alter the adversary's order of resource use, forcing them to deploy reconnaissance, protection, maneuver, and sustainment forces ahead of time and to maintain a high state of alert over the long term.
The second is the cost-consumability mechanism. An important prerequisite for unmanned operations to maintain high-frequency employment over the long term is that their cost structure is within an affordable range. Low-cost platforms and consumable designs enable the unmanned system to still possess regenerative capacity in the process of attrition, and the loss of a platform does not cause a sudden drop in overall capability. Consequently, unmanned operations are gradually shifting from high-value, limited-use capability employment to sustainable, systemic long-term employment. This change in cost structure provides a practical foundation for the unmanned system to maintain resilience in large-scale attritional confrontations.
The "low cost" mentioned here mainly refers to the fact that the overall cost of long-term systemic employment is within an affordable range. Maintaining this cost advantage still requires support from multiple aspects, including manufacturing, personnel training, data accumulation, communication sustainment, and mission organization. Modular, batch-production, and substitutable designs allow some tasks that were originally mainly undertaken by a small number of high-value platforms to be decomposed into multiple relatively independent and easily replaceable nodes. After a single platform is damaged, the system can still continue the mission through platform replacement and node reorganization. The prerequisite for consumable employment is that production, maintenance, personnel, and organizational sustainment can compensate for losses in a timely manner; once sustainment capacity falls behind, the continuous loss of low-cost platforms will likewise erode system effectiveness. The advantage thus formed is reflected not only in the cost of individual equipment but also in the speed of replenishment and the cost of recovery of combat capability.
The third is the link-resilience mechanism. Whether the unmanned system can function stably depends on whether the task chain can be sustained under adversarial conditions. The operational closed loop needs to have fault tolerance and graceful degradation capability, maintaining basic operation under conditions of jamming and attrition; the link structure also needs to have substitution and reconfiguration capability, to prevent the failure of key nodes from triggering overall paralysis. Such means as intelligent scheduling, redundant design, and alternative links embedded in system operation help the unmanned system maintain basic operation under strong adversarial conditions, driving the conversion of equipment capability into system capability.
The scope of link resilience is not limited to whether the communication link is unobstructed. In complex adversarial environments, link interference, node damage, and mission changes may all become the norm. A resilient unmanned system should be able to downgrade its operation in a timely manner after partial functions fail, quickly complete substitution after the loss of individual nodes, and re-establish a basic closed loop after the original organizational relationships are disrupted. Local nodes can fail, but core tasks still need to continue; when the original link becomes difficult to maintain, it must also be possible to activate alternative relationships. This switching also requires corresponding mission rules and command authority support, so that autonomous adjustment, manual takeover, and local reorganization can be completed within a limited time. System advantage is thus manifested as the ability to maintain, recover, and reorganize after disruption and damage.
Tempo reshaping, low-cost consumable employment, and link resilience respectively support the unmanned system in forming a time advantage, maintaining sustained input, and sustaining basic operation after disruption and damage. The three interact with one another, jointly affecting the continuous effectiveness of unmanned forces within the task chain. On this basis, advanced platforms must still be embedded in specific mission organizations, and must be supported by corresponding personnel training, information support, and sustainment replenishment, before stable combat capability can be formed. Unmanned operations technology and methods of employment change relatively rapidly; operational experience needs to be converted through review, assessment, and verification into training adjustments, equipment and algorithm improvements, and mission organization optimization, so that the system can adapt to changes in adversarial conditions. In judging the level of unmanned operations, attention should be paid simultaneously to technical equipment, organizational employment, replenishment and recovery, and iterative updating.
Return to TopBy: 兰俊宏
In the collection exhibition area of the China Aviation Museum (中国航空博物馆), a Zero fighter plane with a silver-gray paint scheme is displayed. Beneath its simple and smooth aerodynamic lines, there lies a history of invasion stained with gunpowder smoke. This model, the core main fighter of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, was once the aerial vanguard of the Japanese military's invasion of China, ravaging Chinese airspace for several years by virtue of its technological superiority, leaving deep wartime wounds on the military and civilians of the War of Resistance.
The Zero fighter was a main naval aircraft type born out of Japan's external expansion strategy in the 1930s. In October 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy formally issued a development tender for a new generation carrier-based fighter. The demanding performance specifications forced Nakajima Aircraft Company to withdraw midway, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries took on the task, with designer Jiro Horikoshi leading the development. The prototype made its first successful flight in April 1939, and it was formally finalized and entered service in 1940. Because it coincided with the 2600th year of the Japanese imperial calendar, it was officially named the "Type Zero Carrier Fighter" (零式舰上战斗机).
This aircraft adopted an all-metal semi-monocoque fuselage and a low-wing layout. The entire design was guided by the concept of "extreme weight reduction for performance": it eliminated pilot armor protection, removed self-sealing fuel tanks, and extensively used a new type of super-hard aluminum alloy to reduce structural weight, eventually achieving performance indicators that were unattainable for contemporary fighters: a maximum level flight speed of 533 km/h at an altitude of 4,300 meters, a maximum range of 3,350 kilometers with an external drop tank, and onboard armament consisting of two 20mm cannons in the wings and two 7.7mm machine guns in the nose. Its horizontal turning ability and climb rate comprehensively surpassed the main fighters of the Allied forces at the time.
Its outstanding endurance and maneuverability made the Zero fighter perfectly suited to the Japanese military's operational requirements for long-range escort and oceanic air superiority. Therefore, before the finalization tests were even fully completed, it was urgently deployed to the China theater for combat testing.
After the full-scale War of Resistance entered the stalemate phase, the Japanese military launched sustained strategic bombing of rear cities in the southwest such as Chongqing and Chengdu. However, the existing Type 96 Carrier Fighter (九六式舰载战斗机) had limited range and could not fully escort the bomber formations, which were frequently intercepted by the Chinese Air Force, greatly reducing bombing efficiency. On July 21, 1940, 15 pre-production Mitsubishi A6M2s, led by Lieutenant Tamotsu Yokoyama and Lieutenant Saburo Shindo, formed into two squadrons and flew directly from Kyushu, Japan, to China, joining the 12th Naval Combined Air Group (第12海军联合航空队) stationed in Hankou. Ten days after arriving in China, these new aircraft were officially named "Type Zero Carrier Fighter." This was the Zero fighter's first combat deployment in the world, and the skies of China became the first test ground for this instrument of invasion.
On September 13, 1940, the Zero fighter created the most tragic air battle in the history of the War of Resistance Air Force — the Bishan Air Battle (璧山空战). On that day, 13 Zero fighters escorted 27 Type 96 bombers in a raid on Chongqing. After dropping their bombs, they feigned an eastward return, but in reality climbed to set an ambush, luring the Chinese Air Force to pursue. The Chinese Air Force's 3rd and 4th Groups, with a total of 33 Soviet-made I-15 and I-16 fighters, took off from Suining Airport to intercept. When the formation reached the sky over Bishan, the Zero fighters, which had seized the altitude advantage, suddenly dove down and launched a surprise attack.
There was a full generation of technological gap between the two sides' aircraft: the Chinese Air Force's I-15 biplanes were agile in turning but slow in speed, and the I-16 monoplanes had acceptable speed but weak firepower, while the Zero was comprehensively superior in speed, climb rate, and firepower. Although the Chinese pilots fought desperately, with Group Commander Zheng Shaoyu (郑少愚) and others damaging several Japanese planes, the overall battle situation was always passive. In just over ten minutes, the air battle ended. The Chinese Air Force lost a total of 24 aircraft, of which 13 were shot down directly and 11 were damaged and forced to crash-land, with 10 pilots dying heroically and 9 wounded; the Japanese had only 4 Zeros lightly damaged, and not a single fighter was shot down.
The defeat at the Bishan Air Battle directly led the Chinese Air Force into the most difficult phase of the War of Resistance. For a long time afterward, in order to preserve its effective strength, the Chinese Air Force had to avoid direct air combat with Zero fighters as much as possible, allowing Japanese bombers to penetrate deep into China's southwestern hinterland for bombing with even greater impunity. The appearance of the Zero fighter completely shattered the fragile balance of air power between China and Japan, and also suddenly worsened the air defense situation of China's War of Resistance. Thereafter, the Zero fighter gradually expanded its deployment scope in China, with Hankou in central China, Shanghai in eastern China, Guangzhou in southern China, and Sanya on Hainan all becoming its regular bases. It extensively performed tasks such as strategic bombing escort, front-line air superiority sweeps, and coastal air defense patrols. Relying on its ultra-long range, the Zero fighter could penetrate more than a thousand kilometers into China's interior, and once controlled the air superiority over vast airspaces in eastern and central China.
But beneath the glory, the Zero fighter's inherent defects were constantly exposed in actual combat: the protection sacrificed for weight reduction made its battlefield survivability extremely poor. With no armor on the fuselage and no self-sealing design for the fuel tanks, once hit it was highly prone to catching fire and exploding, later being called the "airborne lighter" by Allied pilots; its weaknesses of poor high-altitude performance and limited dive speed were gradually identified by the enemy.
After the American Volunteer Group (美国志愿援华航空队) came to China at the end of 1941, relying on the sturdy fuselage protection of the P-40 fighter and the tactics of "dive attack, fast disengagement," they gradually broke the Zero fighter's myth of invincibility. After 1943, new-generation Allied fighters such as the P-51 Mustang were successively committed to the China theater, and the Zero fighter fell comprehensively behind in speed, firepower, and protection, with air superiority gradually changing hands. By the latter period of the War of Resistance, the Zero fighter could hardly organize large-scale aerial offensives and increasingly retreated to coastal strongholds to perform air defense missions.
After Japan's defeat and surrender, large quantities of Japanese military aviation equipment were scattered throughout the Northeast. When the Kwantung Army's Hayashi Yaichiro Air Group (关东军林弥一郎飞行大队) surrendered, its unit retained some intact Zero fighters and wreckage. The Northeast Old Aviation School (东北老航校) in its early days based its flight instruction on collected and repaired Japanese military aircraft, with the Type 99 Advanced Trainer (九九式高级教练机) and the Type 1 Twin-Engine Advanced Trainer (一式双发高级教练机) and other army-type aircraft becoming the main training equipment. Because the Zero fighter was a type exclusively used by the Japanese Navy, the supply chain for spare parts was broken, and maintenance standards differed greatly from army-type aircraft, the aviation school did not include it in the formal flight training sequence. Only a few airframes with relatively high integrity were used for structural teaching and fault reference for ground crew personnel. The once-predatory weapon that had rampaged through the skies ultimately completed the transformation of its historical role in a special way during the initial stage of the People's Aviation Enterprise (人民航空事业).
From a killing blade on the battlefield of aggression against China to a historical piece of evidence in a museum, the transformation of the Zero fighter's identity reflects the historical law that justice will ultimately triumph over evil. It gained a temporary technical advantage through its extreme design, but it could not change the unjust nature of the aggressive war, much less reverse the historical outcome of the aggressor's inevitable defeat.
Return to TopBy: 杨原田
Social work is an important component of the work of the Party and the state, bearing on the Party’s long-term governance and the nation’s lasting peace and order, and bearing on social harmony and stability as well as the people’s happiness and well-being. Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Strengthening Social Work in the New Era (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), making comprehensive and systematic deployments for social work, setting direction, setting thinking, and setting tasks for the high-quality development of social work, which is of great and far-reaching significance. The Opinions emphasize “adhering to a people-centered approach, following the Party’s mass line in the new era, upholding and developing the new-era ‘Fengqiao experience’ (枫桥经验), and improving the social governance system of joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits,” profoundly containing the internal logic between practicing the Party’s fundamental purpose and doing social work well in the new era. In June this year, when inspecting Dezhou, Shandong, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “all Party members and cadres must strengthen their awareness of serving as public servants, cultivate deep feelings for the people, do more good deeds, practical things, and solve difficulties for the masses, and genuinely enhance the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.” We must deeply understand and fully implement the requirements of the Opinions, combine them with thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech during his inspection of Shandong, and with greater feelings, higher standing, and more concrete measures, strive to create a new situation for the high-quality development of social work in the new era.
Firmly establish a people-centered development philosophy, enhance the sense of responsibility and mission in doing social work well in the new era
The main targets of social work are various types of organizations and various groups in the social field, which have the most direct relationship with the masses and the closest connection with the masses. Only by adhering to a people-centered development philosophy, focusing on solving the most concerned, most direct, and most realistic interests of the people, and continuously enhancing the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security can we identify the starting point and落脚点 (luò jiǎo diǎn - “foothold/final goal”) of social work.
Deeply understand the significant significance of strengthening social work in the new era. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has accurately grasped the laws of social operation and governance, put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new judgments on why and how to strengthen social work in the new era, and continuously promoted new achievements in social work in the new era. The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for laying a solid foundation and making comprehensive efforts to basically achieve socialist modernization, and also a period when strategic opportunities and risks challenges coexist and uncertainties and unforeseeable factors increase. Currently, the world’s once-in-a-century changes are accelerating, many risk hazards are appearing in the social field, China’s demographic structure is undergoing profound changes, new economic organizations and new social organizations are emerging in large numbers, the scale of new employment groups continues to expand, the interest demands of different social groups are more diversified, and the people’s expectations for a better life have shifted from “whether there is” to “whether it is good,” with growing demands in democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, environment, and other aspects. At the same time, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, platform economy, digital economy, etc., has all put forward new requirements for social work. Strengthening social work is of great significance for practicing the Party’s fundamental purpose on the new journey, consolidating the grassroots foundation of national governance, better uniting and serving the masses, and maintaining social harmony and stability. The issuance of the Opinions is an active adaptation and realistic response to the current world conditions, national conditions, and Party conditions. The social work system must deeply grasp the new situation and new tasks, keep in mind the “great matters of the state,” seize opportunities, meet challenges, and with a strong sense of historical responsibility and mission, earnestly fulfill its duties and mission.
Deeply understand that adhering to putting the people first is the constant value pursuit of our Party in founding, prospering, and strengthening the Party. The people’s character is the essential attribute of Marxism, and the people’s stance is the fundamental political stance of the Communist Party of China. From the day of its birth, our Party has been the faithful representative of the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the Chinese people. The vigorous development of social work in the new era lies in the continuous enhancement of the Party’s political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal in the social work field, playing an important role in expanding social participation, coordinating social interests, preventing social risks, resolving social conflicts, and maintaining social stability, continuously stimulating social creativity and vitality, uniting and rallying social organizations and the broad masses, and fully demonstrating the unique advantages of the socialist social governance path with Chinese characteristics. Practice has fully proven that Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for doing social work well. On the new journey of the new era, we must uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over social work, ensure that the Party’s theory, line, principles, and policies are implemented in all areas, aspects, and links of social work, lead various types of organizations and groups in the social field to be closely united around the Party, and truly transform the Party’s political advantages and organizational advantages into social governance effectiveness.
Deeply grasp that the people are the creators of history, the source of strength for reform, and the foundation of success. To build a great modern socialist country in all respects, the people are the decisive force. Only by firmly relying on the people and gathering the infinite wisdom and strength contained among the people can we continuously create new historical achievements. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, from upholding and developing the new-era “Fengqiao experience” to inheriting and promoting the fine tradition of “four down-to-the grassroots” (四下基层 - sì xià jī céng, “go down to the grassroots for four purposes”), to promoting practices such as Party building leading “immediate response to complaints” (接诉即办 - jiē sù jí bàn), these effective social governance experiences are all vivid manifestations of the Party and the people sharing the same heart and working together to innovate. On the new journey of Chinese-style modernization, the heavier the tasks of further deepening reforms comprehensively, the more we must stand firm on the people’s stance, the more we must extensively凝聚 (níng jù - “gather”) people’s hearts,凝聚共识 (gōng shí - “consensus”),凝聚智慧 (zhì huì - “wisdom”), and凝聚力量 (lì liàng - “strength”), fully stimulate the people’s enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity, guide all parties to participate in social governance in an orderly manner, and凝聚 (gather) the greatest force for common struggle. Only in this way can we provide a strong impetus for high-quality economic and social development, continuously turn the people’s yearning for a better life into reality, and gather the mighty force for building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
Adhere to systematic thinking and scientific methods, promote new breakthroughs in social work
Social work serves the broad masses of the people, consolidates the Party’s governing foundation, maintains social security and stability, and is related to the overall strategy of modernizing the national governance system and governance capacity. Taking a firm stand with the people and cultivating deep feelings for the people is both a value concept and a methodology. We need to adhere to systematic thinking, use scientific methods, and find effective paths to promote high-quality development of social work.
Balance vitality and order, promote a society that is both vibrant and well-ordered. A modernized society should both be full of vitality and have good order, presenting an organic unity of vitality and order. This requires us to grasp the characteristics and laws of mass work under the new situation, innovate mechanisms for凝聚 (gathering), organizing, and mobilizing the masses, explore effective paths for achieving joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits, and continuously activate the endogenous driving force of social governance. Improve the urban-rural grassroots governance system combining autonomy, rule of law, and rule of virtue under the leadership of Party organizations, improve mechanisms such as democratic consultation, group-led mobilization, and social participation, and mobilize various organizations and the broad masses to participate in grassroots governance practices. Ensure that the people enjoy democratic rights and development rights according to law, effectively utilize the role of village rules and civil conventions, etc., educate and guide the masses to follow public order and good customs, respect the law, study the law, abide by the law, and use the law. Fully draw on the social governance wisdom from excellent traditional Chinese culture, such as “being kind and good to neighbors” (亲仁善邻 - qīn rén shàn lín, “be close to the benevolent and good to neighbors”), “keeping good faith and cultivating harmony” (讲信修睦 - jiǎng xìn xiū mù, “emphasize trust and cultivate harmony”), promote the new trends of the times, and advance the transformation of customs. Improve the coordination mechanism for the people’s interests, raise the level of public services, maintain social fairness and justice, and build a social governance community in which everyone has responsibility, everyone fulfills responsibility, and everyone enjoys benefits.
Strengthen services and management, continuously consolidate the Party’s class foundation, mass foundation, and social foundation for governance. Service management of various social groups is an important task of social governance. We must organically integrate work such as ideological and political guidance, service and management, and protection of legitimate rights and interests, and effectively solve the most concerned, most direct, and most realistic interests of the masses. Persistently使用 (shǐ yòng - “use”) Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to凝聚人心 (níng jù rén xīn - “unite people’s hearts”), promote the Party’s innovative theory into villages, communities, enterprises, new economic organizations and new social organizations, and into new employment groups, closely uniting and凝聚 (gathering) the broad masses around the Party. Promote the core socialist values, stimulate the positive energy of the whole society moving upward and towards goodness (向上向善 - xiàng shàng xiàng shàn, “upward and towards goodness”), cultivate a social mentality of self-respect and self-confidence, rationality and peace, and positivity and upwardness. Strengthen care services, explore online and offline combined, segmented and targeted learning and education methods, combine solving ideological problems with solving practical difficulties, and improve the pertinence and effectiveness of work. Coordinate and solve the common expectations and individual concerns of different groups, around urgent and difficult problems of the masses such as labor remuneration, skill training, labor safety, social insurance, platform algorithms, etc., protect legitimate rights and interests according to law, and build harmonious labor relations.
Coordinate development and security, promote positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security through high-efficiency governance. High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects, and it is a general requirement for all aspects of economic and social development. Security is the premise of development, development is the guarantee of security, and high-efficiency governance lays a solid foundation for the mutual promotion of high-quality development and high-level security. Governing the country and ensuring stability hinges on the grassroots. We must firmly establish a clear orientation of focusing on the grassroots, promote resources, services, and management to be sunk to the front line, and ensure that grassroots Party organizations have the resources and ability to do practical things for the masses. Highlight the leadership of Party building, improve the Party’s grassroots organizational system and working mechanism, give full play to the role of grassroots Party organizations as战斗堡垒 (zhàn dòu bǎo lěi - “fighting fortresses”) and the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members, effectively achieve full coverage of Party organizations and Party work, strengthen political functions and organizational functions, and promote the institutionalization, normalization, and long-term effectiveness of serving the masses. Shoulder the major political responsibility of maintaining security in the field of social work, adhere to bottom-line thinking, enhance awareness of potential dangers, use advanced concepts, scientific attitudes, professional methods, and meticulous standards to improve social governance effectiveness. Closely rely on the people, deepen源头治理 (yuán tóu zhì lǐ - “source governance”), solve problems at the grassroots level and nip them in the bud.
Adhere to the unity of 守正 (shǒu zhèng - “upholding what is right,” maintaining fundamental principles) and innovation, steadfastly follow the socialist social governance path with Chinese characteristics. Upholding what is right is the foundation, innovation is the driving force. Upholding what is right means deeply grasping the fundamental requirement of upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over social work, and adhering to the socialist social governance path with Chinese characteristics. Innovation means facing the new mission of Chinese-style modernization, the new expectations of the people, and the new requirements of social development, with firm strategic confidence and a historic initiative spirit, through theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, and practical innovation, to continuously achieve new results in social work. To strengthen and innovate social work, we must adhere to the combination of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, base ourselves on China’s territory to explore suitable roads and methods. Respect the pioneering spirit of the grassroots and the masses, adapt measures to local conditions, take the initiative, and explore roads of high-quality development that conform to each locality’s actual conditions. Further summarize, refine, promote and develop the good practices and good experiences created by the grassroots and the masses, continuously endow them with new contemporary connotations, seek effective ideas and methods to solve new contradictions and problems, and strive to create replicable and scalable fresh experiences. Embrace modern information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, break the traditional governance “data barriers” and “information islands,” and enhance social governance efficiency with digital and intelligent technologies.
Follow the Party’s mass line in the new era, demonstrate new responsibilities and new achievements on the new journey
Facing the new situation, new tasks, and new requirements of social work, the social work system of Shandong Province will inherit and carry forward the Yimeng spirit (沂蒙精神), follow the Party’s mass line in the new era, take on responsibilities, forge ahead, and continuously promote new progress and create a new situation in social work.
Gather “new” forces, enhance the Party’s appeal, cohesion, and influence in emerging fields. Continue to promote the “Double Integration and Double Innovation” (双融双创) action, promote the deep integration of Party building in emerging fields with economic development and social governance, and strive to create new space for economic development and a new pattern of social governance. Promote organizational coverage and work coverage of the Party, strengthen the political leading role of Party organizations in enterprise development, achieve “wherever possible, establish Party organizations” in non-public enterprises and social organizations, and actively explore Party building work models that conform to the characteristics of enterprises. Deepen the Party building and reform development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, strengthen daily management and supervision of responsible persons, deepen the rectification of professional ethics governance and social organization chaos, adjust and optimize structural layout, solve development difficulties, activate development momentum, and better serve industries, society, and the masses. Do a good job in service management for new employment groups, make efforts and achieve practical results in ideological guidance, “two coverages” (两个覆盖 - liǎng gè fù gài, “organizational coverage and work coverage”), rights protection, care and凝聚 (gathering), social integration, etc., comprehensively promote the construction of a “friendly ecology” (友好生态), strengthen the construction of Party-mass service positions for new employment groups, improve the working mechanism and incentive mechanism for new employment groups to participate in grassroots governance, and realize a “two-way rush” between new employment groups and grassroots governance.
Strengthen the foundation, strengthen Party building leading grassroots governance and grassroots political power construction. Deepen grassroots governance innovation, continue to build grassroots governance innovation experimental zones, strengthen practical exploration, institutional design, and platform construction, establish and improve working mechanisms such as regular contact and regional coordination, guide grassroots units to dare to act and dare to experiment. Improve the urban-rural grassroots governance system combining autonomy, rule of law, and rule of virtue under the leadership of Party organizations, increase vitality with autonomy, strengthen guarantees with rule of law, promote righteousness with rule of virtue, and continuously promote the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of village (resident) autonomy. Improve the access system for village (community) work items, promote grassroots autonomous organizations to perform duties according to law and operate orderly, empower civilized rural customs with village rules and conventions, and effectively enhance grassroots governance efficiency. Explore the grassroots governance path of “friendly neighbors, good governance” (友邻善治 - yǒu lín shàn zhì), create a community atmosphere of neighborly love and mutual assistance, improve the level of refined governance and precise services in communities, and promote the sustainable development of community governance. Strengthen the construction of the community worker team, conduct full-coverage centralized rotation training for community workers at different levels, and continuously enhance the performance ability of community workers.
Party and people share the same heart, do detailed and solid work in凝聚 and serving the masses. Extensively solicit public opinion, gather public wisdom, optimize the system for collecting people’s suggestions, so that more “golden ideas” are transformed into “golden keys” that benefit the masses. Vigorously develop volunteer service for all people, focus on serving national strategies, serving people’s livelihoods, and serving social governance, promote the pilot integration of Party building leading “volunteer service” (志愿服务 - zhì yuàn fú wù, “voluntary service”), strengthen volunteer service organization management, implement “serving the people with practical matters” (为民办实事 - wèi mín bàn shí shì) volunteer service projects, and build a new pattern of volunteer service where everyone is willing to act, able to act in everything, and can act everywhere. Innovate social work services, promote social work services in fields such as medical affairs and schools, strengthen the construction of professional social work practice bases, and continuously enhance the professionalization and specialization level of social work services. Strengthen the construction of a professional social work personnel team, provide policy support in medical care, education, etc. Promote the discipline construction of social work, strengthen theoretical and practical research, construct an independent knowledge system of the social work profession, and provide solid talent support for promoting the high-quality development of social work in the new era.
(The author is the Minister of the Social Work Department of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee’s “Two New” Work Committee (两新工委).)
Return to TopThe Party Committee of China Huadian Guizhou Qianyuan Electric Power Co., Ltd. (中国华电贵州黔源电力股份有限公司党委) (hereinafter referred to as the Company Party Committee) has innovatively constructed a Party building work system of three‑tier linkage, three concretizations, five determinations and empowerment (三级联动、三化具象、五定赋能). Through systematic design, concrete standards, and project‑based mechanisms, it promotes the leap of Party building work from “centering around the center” to “integrating into the center and leading the center,” transforming the Party’s political and organizational advantages into innovation advantages, development advantages, and competitive advantages for the high‑quality development of the enterprise.
Penetrate the “three‑tier linkage” transmission chain, build an execution system that runs through consistently.
The Company Party Committee, targeting the problem of Party building responsibility transmission being “hot at the top, warm in the middle, cold at the bottom,” has constructed a three‑tier linkage system to ensure that Party building work has a direction to work toward and a grip to work with.
First, adhere to the secretary taking the lead, shouldering the first responsibility. Draft a responsibility list for branch secretaries, refine the annual Party building work tasks and responsibility list, transforming from “the secretary alone grasps” into “the secretary leads the branch committee to grasp.” Establish a mechanism for “the secretary taking the lead in tackling key issues,” turning key and difficult points in Party building into specific projects, with the secretary taking the lead in undertaking and promoting the entire process. Effectively play the role of the assessment “baton,” incorporating the performance of Party building duties into important indicators for annual assessment, work report and evaluation, and striving for excellence, strictly carry out cross‑inspections according to the quantified plan of Party building responsibility to promote work implementation. Comprehensively apply the method of grasping the “key minority” to drive the “vast majority,” a number of outstanding Party branch secretaries who are politically strong, professionally knowledgeable, good at coordination, and upright in work style have stood out, effectively activating the endogenous impetus for grassroots Party building.
Second, adhere to branch committee synergy, strengthen the backbone force. Strictly implement the meeting rules of the branch committee, regularly study and plan branch work, coordinate and deploy cross‑post collaborative matters, achieving a seamless connection from the “discussion table” to the “action field,” ensuring the implementation and effectiveness of basic systems such as “three meetings and one lesson” (三会一课). Emphasize selecting and strengthening the branch leadership team, taking the opportunity of term changes and by‑elections to achieve “three optimizations” in age, specialty, and capability, promoting branch committee members to both guard the “main battlefield” of business and cultivate the “responsibility field” of Party building. Fully promote closed‑loop management, push grassroots Party branches to achieve “monthly plans, quarterly inspections, annual evaluations,” gathering a strong synergy for the branch committee to jointly grasp Party building and promote development.
Third, adhere to Party members tackling difficulties, stimulating vanguard vitality. Deeply carry out the “three studies, three displays, three comparisons” (三学三亮三比) action, systematically construct a coordinated combat system of Party organization joint building and shared construction, “posts, zones, teams” (岗区队), issue the Standards for “Posts, Zones, Teams” Construction in New Energy Projects, finely divide responsibility zones and set up vanguard posts. Focus on urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks such as energy supply security and technological innovation, set up special tasks such as “Party building + technical breakthrough,” “Party building + electricity sales,” “Party building + high‑quality projects,” forming a work pattern of “key posts led by Party members, key procedures supervised by Party members, key links controlled by Party members, key moments with Party members stepping forward.” Since 2025, more than 100 teams have been formed for tackling difficulties, with over 600 person‑times of participation, converting vanguard strength into the red kinetic energy for high‑quality development.
Implement the “three concretizations” standard system, consolidate strong and capable grassroots foundations.
The Company Party Committee, taking “task implementation list‑based, function manifestation concrete, responsibility fulfillment and evaluation normalization” (任务落实清单化、功能发挥具体化、履责评优常态化) as the starting point, constructs a full‑process, standardized, and concrete grassroots Party building work system, providing a “construction drawing” that is operable, quantifiable, and verifiable for grassroots Party building.
First, highlight standard traction, promote task implementation “list‑based.” Adhere to “one set of standards managing through to the end,” solve the problem of “how to do and to what standard” for grassroots Party affairs work. Compile A Comprehensive Guide to Grassroots Party Building Work and Micro‑Guidance for Grassroots Party Branch Work, item by item sort out 63 basic work standardized procedures such as “three meetings and one lesson” and developing Party members, so that Party affairs workers have a basis to act on and a yardstick to work by. Formulate Guidance List for Party Member Duty Performance in New Energy Projects and Party Member Post Commitment Letter, refine Party member duties into 24 specific provisions such as ideological and political aspects and organizational life, guide Party members to show their identity, fulfill commitments, and set examples. Implement the management mode of “one matter, one registration” and “one year, one ledger,” forming an annual Party building work task list, using standardization construction to reduce burdens at the grassroots and accelerate implementation.
Second, highlight deep embedding, promote function manifestation “concrete.” Centering on the five dimensions of political leadership, organizational cohesion, development promotion, innovation driving, and integrity assurance, construct a Party building embedding system where all departments exert force in the same direction and posts are connected and coordinated. Extensively set up “Party building + project” tackling groups, promote branch work to be jointly planned, jointly deployed, and jointly effective with production and operation. Relying on platforms such as “secretary‑led projects” and “Party member innovation studios,” implement the “Qinglan Project” (青蓝工程) , form more than 80 pairs of master‑apprentice pairings, construct a tiered training chain of “Party members leading backbone, backbone leading the masses,” effectively meeting the rapid talent development needs in the new energy field. Open up the “last kilometer” of cultural shaping, through special training, knowledge competitions, model propaganda and other carriers, promote the corporate culture of Huadian’s “innovation and striving, vying for first place” (创新奋进、奋勇争先) to take root at the grassroots, effectively stimulate the enthusiasm of frontline cadres and employees for starting businesses and doing work, achieving two‑way empowerment of soft power and hard indicators.
Third, highlight closed‑loop evaluation and assessment, promote responsibility fulfillment and evaluation “normalization.” Adhere to “the well‑done and the poorly‑done cannot be treated the same,” resolutely set up the “iron ruler” of assessment and effectiveness inquiry. Draw a responsibility and authority list guidance map for Party building work, diagnose the responsibility fulfillment of branch secretaries, branch committee members, and Party members in a stratified and classified manner. Incorporate the fulfillment of the Party Member Post Commitment Letter and the effectiveness of “posts, zones, teams” construction into the Party member points evaluation system, implement dynamic management and quantified scoring, and directly link assessment results with evaluation for excellence and performance assessment. Firmly grasp and refine branch secretary work report and evaluation work, innovatively build practical carriers such as Party building business skills competitions and “secretary lecture halls” (书记讲堂) , use training to promote learning, use assessment to promote doing, truly compress and solidify the responsibility for Party building work.
Deepen the “five determinations and empowerment” (五定赋能) integration mechanism, open a new situation of mutual integration and mutual promotion.
The Company Party Committee, taking “determine the project, determine the goal, determine the measures, determine the time, determine the subject” (定项目、定目标、定措施、定时间、定主体) as the key grip, establishes a responsibility fulfillment management mechanism of “one person, one list, one table, one card” (一人一单一表一卡) , precisely refining the Party building responsibility list into specific tackling tasks, promoting the transformation of “soft tasks” into “hard indicators,” opening up the “last kilometer” for Party building to integrate into central work.
First, focus on managing the source, improve the effectiveness of precise problem‑solving. Highlight the orientation of “determine the project,” find the precise entry point for integrating Party building and business. Closely focus on core enterprise development topics such as energy supply security, green transformation, quality and efficiency improvement, and technological innovation, establish a three‑level project approval mechanism of “branch declaration, professional review, Party committee approval,” promote the close alignment of approved projects with central tasks. Ensure that every approved project originates from real business needs and fits the actual situation of the post. Adopt a combination of bottom‑up investigation and top‑down coordination, scientifically establish a key area tackling project database, ensure deep integration of Party building and business.
Second, focus on managing the process, improve the effectiveness of closed‑loop implementation. Rely on the three‑dimensional support of “determine the goal, determine the measures, determine the time,” promote full life‑cycle project management, prevent “emphasize approval, neglect promotion.” Determine goals to highlight quantification and verifiability, transform macro Party building requirements into concrete business indicators such as power generation increase and hidden danger rectification rate, making results visible and testable. Determine measures to emphasize pragmatism and effectiveness, targeting specific difficulties such as technological breakthroughs and cost reduction, item by item refine tackling measures, establish cross‑post collaborative linkage mechanisms. Determine time to achieve efficiency and order, clarify the phases and nodes of project advancement, implement battle map operations, ledger management, dynamic off‑list, complete one item, cancel one item, provide timely warnings for lagging progress, ensure that all integration measures are implemented according to the plan and solidly executed.
Third, focus on managing responsibility, improve the effectiveness of collaborative duty performance. Grasp the key of “determine the subject,” layer by layer compress responsibility and tighten the chain. Rely on the “one person, one list, one table, one card” management mechanism, precisely assign integration projects to each Party branch and each Party member, clarify the overall responsibility of the leading secretary, the main grasping responsibility of the Party branch secretary, and the specific responsibility of the implementing personnel, forming a responsibility matrix. Establish a cross‑department joint consultation mechanism, break down business barriers, promote technical, marketing, engineering and other departments to coordinate and fight, achieving “one chessboard” overall planning and “one rope” exertion. Strengthen the baton role of assessment, deeply link the implementation status of the “five determinations” mechanism with Party building assessment and performance evaluation, give priority consideration in evaluation for excellence to those with strong promotion, and promptly conduct talks and reminders for those with weak implementation, promoting the resonance and mutual integration of Party building responsibility and production and operation responsibility.
Return to TopScientific performance assessment is an important method for organizations at all levels to promote high-quality development. At present, some localities and units still face problems such as "cannot assess accurately" and "cannot assess substantively" in performance assessment, and the functions and role of assessment have not been fully brought into play. How to build a scientific and effective performance assessment system and continuously promote high-quality development is a practical question that urgently needs an answer. The Fuyang City Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company) of Anhui Province (阜阳市烟草专卖局（公司）) (hereinafter referred to as the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company)) has actively implemented the "four-level, five-dimension" (四级五维) annual performance assessment system, making a beneficial exploration in solving this difficult problem.
Do a good job in performance assessment to promote improvement in operation and management
Proceeding from its own development reality and conforming to the development trend of the times, the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company) resolved to establish and implement, starting from 2025, an annual performance assessment system with "clear orientation, prominent priorities, full coverage of all employees, and standardized high efficiency," concentrating its efforts on breaking through such traditional enterprise management problems as "eating from the same big pot" (大锅饭) and "egalitarianism," and promoting the enterprise's high-quality development and modernization.
Design a practical and feasible assessment system. On the basis of in-depth investigation and research to understand the actual situation, the leadership team, all units (departments), and management lines adopted methods such as discussion, exchange, and research, and took half a year to formulate the enterprise's "four-level, five-dimension" annual performance assessment system. Among them, the "four levels" means dividing into four levels according to the management hierarchy, with assessment conducted level by level; the "five dimensions" means dividing the first-level assessment into five dimensions: "grand party-building assessment, annual target performance assessment, special assessment, management excellence-creation assessment, and striving-for-advancement-and-ranking assessment." The main purpose of establishing this assessment system is to implement the distribution concept of "more work, more reward; more contribution, more benefit," fully stimulate the enthusiasm of all cadres and employees, establish a clear performance orientation, highlight key work, and "judge heroes by actual performance."
Implement the assessment system with prominence given to rigidity. Formulating the assessment system is important; implementing it is even more important. The enterprise is implementing it methodically and strengthening rigidity in the process. First, strengthen the publicity, interpretation, and implementation of the assessment system. After the Party Group of the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company) discussed and finalized the draft, the assessment system document was printed and distributed, and a concise handbook of the assessment system was compiled and issued to every employee; the Enterprise Management Section took the lead in publicizing and explaining it level by level, and every employee was required to listen to the interpretation. Second, strictly conduct process assessment. The annual target performance is checked against actual results, with a mid-year pre-assessment conducted and timely reminders given to ensure progress, and a final general assessment at year-end; the other four dimensions are assessed annually, with supporting materials and achieved results strictly reviewed, and special circumstances submitted to the assessment leading group for examination and determination; modern information technology means are fully utilized, an information platform for assessment work is built, assessment-related information is entered in a timely manner, and online and offline review are combined to improve the efficiency and quality of assessment work. Third, strengthen the application of assessment results. After the assessment results are formed, they are honored strictly in accordance with the assessment documents, and balancing of interests and flexible accommodation are resolutely avoided.
The results achieved are 有目共睹 (yǒu mù gòng dǔ - "all who have eyes see it," obvious to all). Thanks to the strict implementation of the performance assessment system, over the past year or more, gratifying changes have taken place in all work of the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company). The horizons, mindsets, and thinking of the broad body of employees have been further opened up, their awareness of striving for advancement and better ranking has been strengthened, and the overall mental outlook has taken on a 焕然一新 (huàn rán yī xīn - "shining and becoming new," completely new look). The enterprise's party-building work has remained in the first echelon among the province's tobacco commercial enterprises for two consecutive years; business operations have achieved outstanding results, with operating revenue in 2025 breaking through the 9 billion yuan mark for the first time, and realized profits and taxes reaching the best level in history; scientific and technological innovation has achieved breakthroughs, passing the 5A-grade re-review of standardized enterprises, winning 29 innovation honors at or above the provincial level, one first-class achievement in national lean management projects, and two "national 5A-grade quality-trustworthy teams"; green development has reached a new level, with the first photovoltaic parking shed at a logistics center among the province's tobacco commercial enterprises completed, and the green evaluation system and "dual carbon" control and management mechanism further improved, winning favorable comments from many quarters; enterprise culture construction has achieved new results, and the building of a learning organization is being advanced at an accelerated pace; the "Double-Basic Construction Year" (双基建设年) has achieved notable results, with soft and hard foundations further consolidated, the overall environment undergoing a transformation, and presenting a scene of 欣欣向荣 (xīn xīn xiàng róng - "joyful and flourishing," thriving and prosperous).
Important aspects to grasp in implementing performance assessment
Unify thinking. Performance assessment has a strong principled character, and it is very necessary to unify thinking and reach consensus before implementation. Because performance assessment involves the vital interests of many parties, in order to implement it smoothly, the leadership team, middle-level managers, and even the majority of employees need to be consistent in thinking and form a consensus; only then can the support and cooperation of the majority be won. Otherwise, performance assessment will be difficult to implement, and even if forcibly implemented, it will meet with numerous obstacles.
Be objective and impartial. Whether a good management measure is successfully implemented hinges on whether it can be objective, impartial, and seek truth from facts. This is especially true of performance assessment. Some organizations fail to be objective and impartial when formulating their performance assessment systems, resulting in assessment systems that are not themselves scientific and rigorous enough and difficult to implement in practice; some performance assessments are very well designed, but their implementation results are not satisfactory, mainly because in the course of implementation they are affected by multiple factors such as the "nice guy" mentality and weak adherence to principle, causing the final results to be 大相径庭 (dà xiāng jìng tíng - "the paths are far apart," vastly different) from the original intention, making it difficult for the assessment to play its due role.
Highlight priorities. Performance assessment must not be conducted for the sake of assessment; rather, it should adhere to a problem orientation and a goal orientation and be set according to the goals the organization wants to achieve, the existing problems it needs to solve, and the shortcomings and weak links it needs to remedy. Therefore, priorities must be prominent. In this way, the pertinence of management is enhanced while the cumbersome complexity of being big and all-encompassing is avoided, making performance assessment work concise, clear, and easy to implement.
Adjust in a timely manner. Performance assessment work has characteristics such as principledness and continuity. However, to make good use of the method of performance assessment, a certain degree of flexibility should also be grasped in actual execution, striving to be integrated with reality and adjusted according to the matter, the time, and the place, so as to ensure its flexibility and vitality.
Balance efficiency and fairness. Under normal circumstances, performance management is implemented mainly to improve the efficiency, benefit, and effectiveness of work and to promote high-quality development. However, in the specific implementation of performance management, because there are differences of one kind or another in resources, environment, and endowments of employees, the setting of performance assessment measures should make distinctions and must not crudely adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach or "use one ruler to measure everything to the end." It is necessary to balance "fairness" while highlighting "efficiency," and especially where interests are involved, the disparity should not be too large.
From formulation and implementation to dynamic improvement, the performance assessment system of the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company) has gone through nearly two years and has played an important role in promoting the enterprise's high-quality development and modernization. Forging ahead on the new journey, the Fuyang Municipal Bureau (Company) will refine a more pragmatic, precise, and effective assessment and evaluation system, operate a scientific, smooth, and efficient evaluation work mechanism, fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of cadres and employees in undertaking work and starting businesses, and promote the enterprise's high-quality development and modernization to advance steadily and go far.
(Pan Yinlai (潘银来))
Return to TopThe Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly stated, “Make good use of red resources,” “Promote deep integration of culture and tourism,” and “Empower economic and social development with culture.” The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Shenzhen Municipality further sets “culturally strong city” as a core development goal, explicitly requiring Shenzhen to “activate the entire region’s red cultural resources, create a number of demonstration benchmarks where red culture empowers high-quality development, and lead the upgrade of material civilization with the construction of spiritual civilization.” Bao’an District, as a major industrial district of Shenzhen, against the backdrop of industrial restructuring, governance iteration, and full efforts to push economic and social development to a new level during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, deeply embeds red culture into economic and social development, forming an empowerment system covering the digital economy, grassroots governance, and urban district branding, and exploring a practical path where red culture empowers Bao’an’s high-quality development.
Red Culture Empowers the Digital Economy
Bao’an seized the policy opportunity of Shenzhen’s “15th Five-Year Plan” to build the “Guangdong Province National Digital Economy Innovation and Development Pilot Zone,” deeply integrated red culture with digital technology, and opened up a completely new track and governance model for the development of the digital economy.
Red digital cultural creativity constructs a new industrial track. Bao’an, relying on local red cultural resources and combining with the digital industry base in its jurisdiction, builds a digital creative industry cluster. Since the start of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” Bao’an has issued special support policies for red digital cultural creativity, forming a complete industrial ecosystem covering red VR content, red interactive games, red digital collectibles, and other fields. At the 22nd China International Cultural Industries Fair, Bao’an launched a VR immersive experience project based on the history of the First Party Congress of the Communist Party of China in Bao’an County (中共宝安县第一次党代会), a red-themed digital human anchor, and other products that were widely recognized by the market, with related content accumulating over 3 billion views across the entire network.
The concept of serving the people upgrades the digital governance system. Bao’an deeply integrates the concept of “serving the people wholeheartedly” with big data technology, innovatively creating a digital governance model of “big data + iron feet” (大数据+铁脚板). The Bao’an District Consumer Committee (宝安区消费者委员会) relies on big data analysis to predict trends in consumer complaints, shifting from traditional post-event mediation to pre-event prevention. At the same time, it set up “Vanguard Mediation Posts” (先锋调解岗), organized party member volunteers to go deep into communities and commercial areas to provide offline rights protection services, and in the first half of 2026, the satisfaction rate for consumer dispute mediation rose to 98.5%.
Red Culture Empowers Grassroots Governance
In response to the actual characteristics of Bao’an’s large population size and complex governance scenarios, Bao’an uses red culture as a bond to build a modern grassroots governance system of “upgrading position services — supplementing volunteer teams — innovating multi-stakeholder co-governance,” precisely meeting the construction requirements of Shenzhen’s “15th Five-Year Plan” of “innovating social governance in Shenzhen practice.”
Red convenience positions create a 15-minute service circle. Bao’an uses red cultural venues and party-mass service centers as carriers, stacking convenience service functions such as people’s livelihood security, policy consultation, and skills training on top of the red education function, building over 120 multi-level red convenience positions. Residents, while visiting red exhibitions, can conveniently handle various people’s livelihood matters such as social security and medical insurance nearby, transforming red positions from a single educational space into a “warm harbor” (暖心港湾) for serving the masses.
Red volunteer teams activate the governance nerve endings. Bao’an has formed a “Red Vest” (红马甲) party member volunteer team of over 100,000 people, extending the service tentacles to every corner of grassroots governance. In various scenarios such as emergency response to extreme weather, popularization of consumer rights protection, and red education on campuses, red volunteers become an important supplementary force for grassroots governance.
Red party building leads a pattern of multi-stakeholder co-governance. Bao’an promotes paired party building between party organizations of communities, schools, and enterprises, breaking down barriers between different governance entities. For new employment groups, Bao’an has built 1,057 friendly positions for new employment groups such as “Warm Bee Stations” (暖蜂驿站) and “Driver’s Homes” (司机之家) across the entire region. While providing convenience services to couriers and food delivery riders, it guides them to serve as “mobile grid staff” (流动网格员), reporting safety hazards and conveying people’s livelihood demands at any time, transforming the new employment groups from governance objects into governance forces, building a grassroots governance community with full participation.
Red Culture Empowers Urban District Branding
Under the guidance of Shenzhen’s “15th Five-Year Plan” goal of building a “culturally strong city,” Bao’an transforms red culture into unique urban district brand assets.
Red cultural tourism creates a unique Greater Bay Area IP. Bao’an connects the site of the First Party Congress of the Communist Party of China in Bao’an County, the site of Dongbao Middle School (东宝中学旧址), and other red revolutionary sites, to create a high-quality cultural tourism route called “Bao’an Red Footprints” (宝安红色足迹), and links with surrounding ecological resources such as Shiyan Wetland Park (石岩湿地公园) and Marine Pastoral (海上田园) to form a composite cultural tourism product of “red + ecology + industry.” The construction of the Yanluo Red Culture Block (燕罗红色特色文化街区) is advancing rapidly. On the basis of protecting the features of Yanchuan Ancient Village (燕川古村), it introduces formats such as red-themed bookstores, intangible cultural heritage workshops, and cultural creative experience spaces. In the first half of 2026, Bao’an’s red cultural tourism received over 1.2 million visitors, becoming a well-known red culture destination in the Greater Bay Area.
Red brand helps global resource linkage. Bao’an seized the major opportunity of Shenzhen hosting the APEC meeting in 2026, using red culture as the core of urban brand communication. At the APEC special investment promotion conference, it told guests from Asia-Pacific countries the development story of Bao’an “from a revolutionary hot land to an industrial new city,” allowing the red spirit of “daring to venture, daring to try, striving unceasingly” to become the unique code for interpreting Bao’an’s industrial miracle. In the first half of 2026, Bao’an relied on its red culture brand to attract more than 50 enterprises in advanced manufacturing and digital economy from APEC member economies to settle in, making red culture a unique cultural business card for Bao’an to connect with global high-end resources.
Red education shapes the common spiritual core of the city. Bao’an promotes red culture into communities, campuses, and enterprises, integrating the red spirit into the whole-people education system. This year, red public welfare activities have entered over 100 primary and secondary schools in Bao’an, covering more than 200,000 students, and red culture classes have entered over a thousand enterprises in the jurisdiction. The red spirit has become a common value bond for Bao’an residents, shaping the spiritual core of the city with a high sense of identity.
Bao’an’s active exploration has accumulated useful experience in red culture empowering high-quality development.
Change the traditional “resource-dependent” path, transforming static red cultural historical relics into dynamic spiritual empowerment. Different from the traditional model of revolutionary old areas that mainly rely on physical red resources to develop cultural tourism, Bao’an refines red culture into a replicable and embedable spiritual asset, deeply integrating it into the digital economy, grassroots governance, and urban district branding, greatly expanding the application boundaries of red culture.
Adhere to the principle of “precise embedding of scenarios,” avoiding formalization and vacuousness of red culture empowerment. Bao’an did not stop red culture at the level of propaganda, but designed differentiated empowerment mechanisms for the industrial transformation scenario of the digital economy, the convenience service scenario of grassroots governance, and the international communication scenario of urban branding, allowing red culture to truly land as perceivable and beneficial actual actions, effectively enhancing the sense of identity of different groups with red culture.
Build a “policy-organization-investment” three-in-one institutional guarantee system to achieve long-term sustainability of empowerment practice. Bao’an incorporates red culture into the district’s “15th Five-Year Plan” special plan, establishes a cross-departmental special task force for the protection and utilization of red cultural resources, avoiding the problems of short-termism and fragmentation in red culture empowerment, forming a sustainable long-term empowerment mechanism.
Bao’an’s red culture empowerment practice proves that red culture is a spiritual asset worth deep excavation. As long as an embedding path that matches local industrial characteristics and governance needs is found, red culture can be transformed into a driving force for the development of new quality productive forces, improvement of grassroots governance efficiency, and shaping of a unique urban district brand.
(Lin Qingxin, 林清新)
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