Summary: President Xi Jinping, speaking at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called for improving mechanisms for deep consultative interaction, full expression of opinions, and broad consensus-building, stressing that genuine consultation must occur before and during decision-making. The article details how the Shanghai Municipal CPPCC has implemented these directives through concrete measures, such as expanding multi-level consultation platforms, organizing委员 engagement with grassroots communities on issues like elevator installation and elderly care, and establishing feedback loops to ensure consultative outcomes are realized. It highlights innovations like "face-to-face" forums on social livelihood topics and a "direct channel" for collecting and transmitting public opinion, all aimed at enhancing the CPPCC's special consultative institution role. The piece also emphasizes efforts to build consensus across political parties, ethnic groups, and overseas Chinese through mechanisms like the "Sunshine Education" program and outreach activities for Taiwanese and Macao youth. Finally, it describes Shanghai's use of "whole-process people's democracy practice points" to show foreign delegations and consular officials how China's consultative democracy works.
Summary: Under Xi Jinping's leadership, the Party Central Committee has prioritized integrated disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief as a major national security and people's safety task, with Xi emphasizing principles like party leadership, people-first values, and systematic thinking. The article outlines a three-pillar framework—hazard reduction through prevention, resilience through infrastructure fortification, and response/recovery through relief capabilities—while identifying persistent challenges such as fragmented interdepartmental coordination, urban-rural disparities, and weak grassroots implementation. It calls for whole-domain risk governance, "peacetime-emergency dual-use" infrastructure, full-process institutional reforms, and closed-loop review mechanisms to drive continuous improvement. The piece is authored by the vice dean of the Emergency Management Research Institute at the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance). No mention is made of the United States or bilateral relations.
Summary: The article highlights Xi Jinping's recent instructions on cadre evaluation, emphasizing the need to refine differentiated assessment systems and establish a personnel selection orientation that values practical work and tangible results. It stresses that correct guidance in selecting and appointing officials is crucial for encouraging officials to adopt proper views on political achievements, while warning against mindsets like "more work, more mistakes." The piece argues that real achievements should be judged by both visible short-term results and long-term foundational contributions, including improvements in people's livelihoods and ecological benefits. It calls for scientific, differentiated assessment mechanisms tailored to local conditions and job roles to accurately identify and promote capable, dedicated officials. The ultimate goal is to prevent superficial "image projects" and create a system where capable and meritorious officials are rewarded while ineffective ones are removed.
Summary: The article highlights the achievements of "full and strict Party self-governance" since the 18th Party Congress, framing it as a new realm of self-reform for the century-old Party that has driven historic successes in Party and state affairs. It acknowledges that profound changes in domestic and international conditions have brought new challenges to Party governance. The piece stresses the strategic importance of persistently advancing this governance from the perspective of consolidating the Party's ruling position and fulfilling its mission. It calls on the whole Party to maintain confidence and resolve, applying the valuable experience of the new era at higher standards and with more concrete measures. The article also urges tackling prominent Party-building issues and consolidating the sound political environment fostered by Party management.
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Summary: The article discusses Xi Jinping's 1989 essay written during his tenure in Ningde, Fujian, titled "The Basic Skills of Cadres—Maintaining Close Ties with the People." In it, Xi argued that leadership competence derives not from official position but from understanding objective laws embedded in the practice of the masses. He emphasized that cadres must calibrate their understanding from a people-centered standpoint, conduct genuine investigation and research, and cultivate problem-solving abilities through practice and reflection. The piece stresses that true leadership is ultimately measured by concrete results in serving the people's wellbeing rather than by rhetoric or written materials. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations in the article.
Summary: The article discusses Chinese President Xi Jinping's call at a CPPCC anniversary event to improve mechanisms for in-depth consultative interaction, full expression of views, and broad consensus-building. It details how the Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai CPPCC implement these directives by refining consultation rules, diversifying platforms, and engaging grassroots and sectoral representatives. The piece highlights specific practices such as training for committee members, closed-loop feedback systems, and community-level consultations on local issues. It also emphasizes the role of sectoral committees and public opinion channels in gathering and transmitting citizens’ concerns. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Dai Yi, deputy general manager of China Post Technology Co., Ltd., posed a question about how Chinese enterprises going abroad should address new challenges, citing Xi Jinping's call to unblock domestic and international dual circulation in building a new development pattern. Luo Jianbo, deputy director of the Central Party School's International Strategic Studies Institute, responded that Chinese enterprises face serious uncertainty from U.S.-initiated trade and tech wars, sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction, and U.S. efforts to build exclusive supply-chain clubs. He argued that China must improve the scientific basis and security of outbound investment, strengthen compliance and corporate social responsibility, and create Chinese standards and rules to boost global influence. Luo also stressed the need to enhance overseas comprehensive service systems and protect overseas interests through legal frameworks, enterprise safety capabilities, social forces, and bilateral security cooperation. He advocated advancing overseas strategic projection capabilities, including support bases and dispute-response mechanisms, to safeguard Chinese citizens amid rising regional conflicts and political instability.
Summary: The article, authored by the Executive Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and Deputy Director of the Provincial Supervision Commission, argues that officials' political achievements ("政绩") can only be generated through genuine practice and real work. It connects Marxist philosophy—citing Marx, Lenin, and Mao Zedong—with traditional Chinese cultural values such as "unity of knowledge and action" to assert that achievements must be tested by practical results rather than subjective claims. The piece stresses that correct performance views require officials to follow objective laws, conduct thorough investigation and research, and balance visible short-term results with long-term foundational work. It further calls for discipline inspection and supervision organs to embed oversight of officials' achievement views into daily monitoring and巡视巡察, targeting problems such as "digital achievements," formalistic performance, and inaction. Ultimately, it concludes that only achievements earned through real work and recognized by the masses are credible and enduring.
Summary: The article, written by the deputy director of the Emergency Management Research Institute at the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance), argues that China must "integratively enhance" its disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities. It frames this as a key task of the Party Central Committee, citing Xi Jinping's emphasis on system-wide thinking and people-centered approaches at a Politburo collective study session. The piece outlines the necessity of this integration, its core components (prevention, hardening, and relief), and current challenges such as fragmented governance and uneven urban-rural standards. It proposes governance reforms, resilient infrastructure, stronger legal frameworks, and iterative post-disaster reviews to achieve these goals. The article contains no discussion of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: 广西政协正按照“立党为公、为民造福、科学决策、真抓实干”的总要求，开展“树立和践行正确政绩观”学习教育，旨在贯彻习近平总书记关于正确政绩观的重要论述。该政协计划通过强化党的全面领导、深化民族团结进步工作以及做实委员履职“服务为民”来服务中国式现代化广西实践。在履职中，广西政协聚焦打造面向东盟的人工智能国际合作高地和向海经济高质量发展等重点议题，并针对严重洪涝灾害迅速行动，募集捐款1.57亿元并督导整改风险隐患。此外，政协强调通过修订制度文件和推进自身建设来巩固学习教育成果，以营造风清气正、干事创业的政治生态。
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Summary: At the 24th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping stressed the need to strengthen industrial coordination so that future industries complement emerging and traditional industries. The article notes that the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline subsequently set out systematic arrangements for optimizing and upgrading traditional industries while cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries. The piece, published in the high-end think tank section of *Study Times*, presents a discussion on advancing the coordinated development of these three categories of industry. The discussion is framed as providing fundamental guidance for building a modern industrial system.
Summary: The analysis, authored by the executive dean of Nanjing University's Yangtze River Industrial Development Research Institute, argues that China's modern industrial system requires coordinated development of traditional, emerging, and future industries. It warns against abandoning traditional sectors or over-relying on new ones, citing risks of industrial hollowing-out and the current "K-shaped divergence" between traditional and emerging industries. Key problems identified include the labeling of traditional industry as backward, homogenous overcapacity in sectors like EVs and solar, and weak tech transfer across industry categories. The author recommends a unified strategic framework, smoother flows of talent, data, and capital, and a policy shift from selective subsidies to functional guidance. The piece situates these challenges within global competition, noting developed countries like the U.S. are accelerating frontier deployments and using technology barriers and rule-setting to consolidate their advantages.
Summary: The article argues that traditional, emerging, and future industries are interdependent components of a modern industrial system, not substitutes, and must be developed in coordination to achieve overall upgrading. It highlights China's recent progress, such as digital transformation in nearly 90% of large industrial enterprises, the rise of high-tech manufacturing to 17.1% of industrial output, and rapid growth in future sectors like humanoid robots. It warns against local governments "liking the new and disliking the old" by eliminating traditional industries or blindly chasing trendy sectors, which could cause industrial fractures and growth stalls. The author recommends correcting cognitive biases, strengthening chain-leader enterprises, adopting functional industrial-chain policies, and establishing evaluation metrics that reward integration, innovation, and resilience. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article analyzes the historical cycle of offensive and defensive advantage in warfare, attributing shifts to technological progress in strike, protection, and mobility capabilities. It introduces a "three-element offense-defense model" to argue that when capabilities are combined at the same technological level, they are most effective, while mismatched dimensions mutually constrain each other. The author contends that the current unmanned-drone era strengthens the defensive side, but that future AI-enabled robotic warfare—which replaces vulnerable human soldiers and uses AI for autonomous decision-making—will swing the advantage back to the offensive. Consequently, the piece concludes that shaping the technological form of war is more decisive than designing specific tactics, as technology drives the evolution of war itself.
Summary: The article provides a technical overview of submarine propulsion systems, highlighting their critical role as the "underwater heart" for maneuverability, stealth, and long-range strike capabilities. It outlines the historical evolution from early diesel-electric combinations to Cold War-era AIP and nuclear propulsion, culminating in modern shafted and shaftless pump-jet thrusters designed to reduce cavitation and acoustic noise. The piece analyzes the trade-offs of four current configurations—diesel-electric with open propellers, AIP with small pump-jets, nuclear with shafted pump-jets, and nuclear with shaftless pump-jets—plus future magnetohydrodynamic concepts. It stresses the importance of auxiliary systems like energy generation units, smart power distribution, and vibration-damping mounts for operational viability. Ultimately, the summary notes future trends toward longer endurance, extreme quieting, and intelligent multi-energy integration to counter modern anti-submarine warfare. No mention is made of U.S.-China relations or specific officials in the provided text.
Summary: The article recounts the Battle of Changlinggang on July 17, 1934, where the Red 25th Army, led by Commander Xu Haidong, achieved a classic, decisive mountain ambush against a superior KMT force in Henan. Facing a desperate KMT encirclement campaign, Xu Haidong exploited the enemy's lax security and advantageous terrain to launch a swift, surprise attack. In just three hours, the Red Army routed the KMT's 115th Division, destroying five of its battalions and capturing significant weaponry at minimal cost. The victory dealt a severe blow to the KMT's three-month suppression plan, revitalized the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet bases, and provided crucial tactical experience for the Red Army's later Long March.
Summary: The article analyzes governance transformations during the Spring and Autumn period as recorded in the Zuozhuan, highlighting a shift from divine authority to people-centered statecraft. Key officials such as Ji Liang and Shi Yin advocated prioritizing popular welfare over spiritual devotion, while reformers like Guan Zhong and Zi Chan implemented policies to ease burdens and stabilize society. Institutional innovations emerged, including the county system, land and tax reforms like "初税亩," and the codification of laws symbolized by Zi Chan's "铸刑书." The piece argues that these developments blended ritual and law, forming a transitional governance model between aristocratic and bureaucratic rule. It concludes that such ideas laid enduring foundations for Chinese political civilization, despite being constrained by entrenched noble power and lacking long-term institutional safeguards.
Summary: The article describes the historical "Four Admonitions Stele" in Zoucheng, Shandong—the hometown of Mencius—which urges officials to uphold the virtues of integrity (廉), benevolence (仁), fairness (公), and diligence (勤). The stele's text traces back to the Southern Song scholar-official Zhen Dexiu, who formulated these principles for governance, and was later inscribed by Ming-dynasty magistrate Liang Zhouyan as a self-admonition and guide for his administration. The piece illustrates each virtue with classical exemplars, such as the incorruptible official Zhao Bian and the impartial governance of Zhuge Liang, while condemning corrupt and cruel officials. It underscores that these moral qualities are essential for effective governance and the welfare of the people. No current officials or U.S.-China relations are mentioned.
Summary: The article explains the ancient Confucian principle “敬以直内，义以方外” from the *Zhouyi*, meaning one should cultivate inner reverence to keep the heart upright and uphold righteous norms to guide external conduct. It traces the phrase’s classical origins, discusses later interpretations by Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, and stresses that inner “reverence” and outer “righteousness” are mutually dependent, forming a complete moral practice. Historical figures such as Fan Zhongyan, Wen Tianxiang, and Zeng Guofan are cited as exemplars of this ideal. The piece ultimately advocates “敬义夹持,” balancing inner moral cultivation with principled action to reach unity of knowledge and practice.
Summary: Weihai Guangtai, a Chinese airport ground equipment manufacturer, announced that it received top-tier ESG ratings (AAA from CSI Index and AA from Wind) for 2026, reflecting its emphasis on governance, innovation, and sustainability. Founded 35 years ago, the company highlighted its evolution from producing China's first aircraft power carts to developing full electric ground-support equipment, including tractors used for the C919 program. It detailed efforts such as a new ESG governance structure, heavy R&D investment, and full electrification of its product line to cut carbon emissions. The company also reported building a supplier ESG evaluation system covering 1,157 vendors and contributing over 17 million yuan to philanthropic causes.
By: 上海市政协主席胡文容
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (中国人民政治协商会议) that it is necessary to "improve the mechanisms for deep consultative interaction, full expression of opinions, and broad consensus building, perfect the rules for consultative work, promote the full expression and in-depth exchange of different thoughts and viewpoints, and truly produce methods, consensus, goodwill, and unity through consultation," providing the fundamental guideline for the CPPCC to deepen the innovative practice of consultative democracy. Deep consultative interaction, full expression of opinions, and broad consensus building are closely linked and 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each gains luster through the other," complementing and reinforcing each other), organically unified in the entire process of consultative democracy, jointly constituting the operating mechanism of the specialized consultative body, and ultimately achieving the goal of promoting democracy and enhancing unity in mutual interconnection and exerting two-way force in offering suggestions for governance and building consensus. The Shanghai Municipal Party Committee (上海市委) has deeply implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thoughts on strengthening and improving the work of the People's Political Consultative Conference, has always incorporated CPPCC work into the overall municipal work layout for unified planning, unified deployment, and unified advancement, and has put forward clear requirements for giving play to the CPPCC's role as the specialized consultative body. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (上海市政协) has earnestly implemented the deployment requirements of the Party Central Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, based itself on strengthening the performance effectiveness of the specialized consultative body and better serving the writing of the Shanghai chapter of Chinese modernization, deeply practiced the major concept of whole-process people's democracy, upheld the organic integration of Party leadership, the united front, and consultative democracy, strived to promote deeper consultative interaction, fuller expression of opinions, and broader consensus building, and better contributed wisdom and strength to Shanghai's full play of its leading and exemplary role in advancing Chinese modernization.
Improve the mechanism for deep consultative interaction, and focus on pooling the wisdom of the people in expanding all-round consultation and deliberation
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "consultation requires true consultation, and true consultation requires consulting before and during decision-making, determining and adjusting our decisions and work according to the opinions and suggestions of all sides, guaranteeing from the institutional level that consultative outcomes are implemented, and making our decisions and work better conform to the will of the people and accord with reality." Consultation is the main responsibility and primary business of the CPPCC. Promoting broad unity, advancing multiparty cooperation, and practicing people's democracy through consultation are the fine traditions that the CPPCC has 一以贯之 (yī yǐ guàn zhī - "thread all through with one," consistently maintained). On the new journey of the new era, the CPPCC should base itself on its functional positioning, uphold integrity and innovate, further improve the mechanism for deep consultative interaction, focus on solving key problems such as what to consult on, with whom to consult, how to consult, and how to apply consultative outcomes, and continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of offering suggestions for governance and serving the overall situation.
Adhere to integrated planning of improving consultative content and enriching consultative forms, to ensure that the topics of deep consultative interaction are precise and the platforms are diverse. Only by conducting broad consultation through various means, channels, and methods on major issues of reform, development, and stability, especially issues concerning the vital interests of the people, can the CPPCC serve high-quality development with high-quality suggestions. This requires the CPPCC to, on the one hand, improve consultative content, anchor on what the Party and government need, what the masses expect, and what the CPPCC can do, focus on key, difficult, and hot issues in advancing Chinese modernization, further deepening reform comprehensively, promoting high-quality development, and maintaining social harmony and stability, and clarify the direction of consultation and determine consultative topics; and on the other hand, enrich consultative forms, further improve the consultative and deliberative structure with the plenary session as the leader, special sessions of the Standing Committee for political consultation and special consultative conferences as the focus, and consultative symposiums, counterpart consultation meetings, and proposal-handling consultation meetings as the normal forms, and actively explore the coordination and cooperation between CPPCC consultation and other consultative forms, striving to build a multi-level, three-dimensional consultative platform system. The Shanghai CPPCC has closely focused on the deployment requirements of the Municipal Party Committee in planning and advancing its performance work, adhered to the mechanism of soliciting topics from all parties and groups, CPPCC members, and the masses in all sectors, focused on key areas of Shanghai's modernization drive to determine performance topics, and ensured that the CPPCC's performance resonates with the overall municipal situation at the same frequency and exerts force in the same direction. While strengthening the construction of key consultative platforms, it has relied on CPPCC member workstations, sector member studios, and member contact points for connecting with and serving the masses, organized members to go deep into the grassroots, conducted in-depth consultation on key trivial matters such as installing elevators, elderly care services, and pocket park construction, and helped grassroots society stimulate governance vitality, optimize governance methods, and improve governance effectiveness.
Adhere to the synchronous advancement of improving consultative rules and cultivating a culture of consultative democracy, to ensure that the procedures of deep consultative interaction are scientific and the atmosphere is strong. Institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization are inevitable requirements for the development of consultative democracy. It is necessary to follow the principles of being scientific and reasonable, standardized and orderly, simple and easy to implement, and democratic and centralized, form institutional norms and working rules for different consultative channels, and especially make consultative interaction a necessary link, making provisions on the scope of participation, discussion principles, basic procedures, and communication methods, to ensure that consultation is deep and interaction is sufficient. At the same time, deep consultative interaction cannot be separated from the deep nourishment of a culture of consultative democracy. It is necessary to extensively advocate consulting more when there are matters, consulting more when encountering matters, and consulting more when doing matters, actively cultivate a consultative democracy culture with CPPCC characteristics, promote back-and-forth, benign, and progressively deepening interaction in CPPCC consultation, achieve equal consultation without imposing one's views on others, orderly consultation without each speaking only for oneself, and sincere consultation without being extreme or obstinate, and form a good consultative atmosphere of both 畅所欲言 (chàng suǒ yù yán - "speak fully what one wishes to say," speaking freely without reservation) and 各抒己见 (gè shū jǐ jiàn - "each expresses his own views," everyone airing their own views), as well as being rational and measured, lawful and rule-based. The Shanghai CPPCC has focused on optimizing the procedures for consultative interaction, especially adding sessions for member questions and departmental replies in special oversight-oriented sessions of the Standing Committee, effectively demonstrating the characteristics and advantages of consultative oversight. At the same time, it has organized CPPCC members, government departments, stakeholders, and the masses in all sectors to focus on problems, engage in equal dialogue, and conduct in-depth exchanges, cultivating a culture of consultation in the process of helping solve practical problems. For example, around continuously assisting the iterative upgrading of the "community baby house (社区宝宝屋)" on Jiangning Road Subdistrict, Jing'an District (静安区江宁路街道), at the community level it has organized expert members to link functional departments, operating institutions, and resident families, built a normalized, face-to-face communication and consultation platform, formed a closed-loop process of "public opinion response — consultation promotion — oversight implementation — feedback optimization," promoted the construction of a "good governance community (善治共同体)" model led by the government, coordinated by society, and participated in by families, and made "discussing matters well when there are matters" 蔚然成风 (wèi rán chéng fēng - "luxuriantly forming a prevailing practice," to grow into a widespread custom) at the community and grassroots level.
Adhere to the mutual promotion of enhancing consultative capability and improving consultative effectiveness, to ensure that the methods of deep consultative interaction are scientific and the outcomes are implemented on the ground. Only by understanding the CPPCC, being able to consult, and being adept at deliberating on political affairs can one consult genuinely, deeply, and substantively. This requires the CPPCC to improve the learning and training mechanism, promote the broad membership to study diligently and be good at research, grasp the Party's and the state's principles and policies, comprehend the essence of consultation, master consultative methods, and enhance consultative capability, striving to observe changes in the situation, identify the crux of problems, and devise effective strategies. The implementation of consultative outcomes on the ground is an important standard for measuring the quality and effectiveness of consultation. It is necessary to improve the mechanism for adopting, implementing, and providing feedback on consultative outcomes, strengthen communication and contact with Party committees and governments, track and understand the progress of adoption and implementation of consultative outcomes, provide timely feedback to those who offered suggestions, and do a good job of the "second half of the article" of consultation. The Shanghai CPPCC has continuously improved the member training mechanism, conducted all-member training for municipal and district CPPCC members at the beginning of their tenure, and held a series of special training courses on "Improving Members' Ability to Perform Their Duties," promoting the broad membership to continuously improve their ideological understanding and performance capability. At the same time, it has upheld the practice of running consultative democracy through the entire process of proposal work, promoted the improvement of the mechanism whereby members of the leading bodies of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government take the lead in coordinating the handling of proposals, the mechanism whereby members of the Chairman's Council of the Municipal CPPCC take the lead in supervising key proposals, the coordinated advancement mechanism for handling key proposals, and the regular analysis and evaluation mechanism for proposal handling, effectively promoting the transformation and implementation of proposal suggestions.
Improve the mechanism for full expression of opinions, and focus on pooling the will of the people in improving whole-chain orderly participation
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the CPPCC must "enrich democratic forms, unblock democratic channels, effectively organize all parties, groups, ethnic groups, strata, and people from all walks of life to jointly discuss state affairs, and promote the realization of broad and effective people's democracy." Democracy begins with the full expression of the people's will and is realized in the effective fulfillment of the people's will. As an important form of practicing whole-process people's democracy, the CPPCC must implement the requirement that all decisions and plans involving the vital interests of the masses fully listen to the opinions of the masses, and by widely accepting the views of the masses, widely gathering the wisdom of the masses, and widely seeking good strategies, guarantee the right of the people to broad, sustained, and in-depth participation in daily political life, and promote Chinese-style democracy to demonstrate even more vigorous vitality.
Fully utilize the extensive contact advantages of the sectors, and timely reflect the demands of the masses in all sectors. Sectors are the organizational framework setup of the CPPCC, and each sector is a democratic channel connecting the masses in that sector. It is necessary to proactively adapt to economic and social development and changes in the internal structure of the united front, deeply study the ideas and methods for better playing the role of CPPCC sectors, expand the scope of unity, enhance inclusiveness, expand the space for orderly political participation, and promote all sectors to base themselves on their own fields, give play to their comparative advantages, and enhance their vitality in performing duties, effectively transforming the overall advantages of the CPPCC organization into the performance effectiveness of each sector displaying its own strengths in better connecting with the masses in the sector, conducting in-depth investigation and research, reflecting social conditions and public opinion, deepening consultative discussion, and putting forward opinions and suggestions. The Shanghai CPPCC has carried out a series of beneficial explorations in this regard. For example, it formulated implementation opinions on giving play to the role of sectors, improved the mechanism for supporting all democratic parties and personages without party affiliation in better performing their duties and playing their roles in the CPPCC, perfected the mechanism for special committees to separately contact all sectors, gave play to the coordinating and promoting role of the Sector and Regional Work Committee, ensured that sector speeches occupy an appropriate proportion at important consultative meetings, promoted all sectors to put forward high-quality collective proposals on the basis of in-depth investigation and research, and organized the establishment of sector member studios, effectively ensuring that the opinions and suggestions of the masses in all sectors are reflected in a timely manner.
Fully utilize the consultative platform advantages of the CPPCC, and extensively solicit the opinions of the masses in all sectors. As an important channel of socialist consultative democracy and the specialized consultative body, the CPPCC upholds the concept that when there are matters, good discussion should be held, and the affairs of the many should be discussed by the many, provides an institutionalized platform for all parties and groups and people of all ethnic groups and from all walks of life to participate in politics and express interests in an orderly manner, is conducive to promoting scientific decision-making and effective policy implementation, and plays an irreplaceable role in improving the effectiveness of national governance. In performance practice, it is necessary to take satisfying the masses as the value orientation for doing work well, ensure that the direction of performance is determined according to the opinions of the masses, the topics of performance are adjusted according to the opinions of the masses, and the results of performance are improved in light of the opinions of the masses, and by inviting representatives of the masses in all sectors to participate in relevant CPPCC consultative meetings, research and inspection activities, and democratic oversight work, and inviting stakeholders to participate in special consultations, expand the channels for orderly participation, making the CPPCC a truly institutionalized platform for the masses in all sectors to express their opinions. The Shanghai CPPCC has focused on asking the people about their needs, seeking advice from the people, and asking the people about effectiveness, strived to improve the mechanism for inviting the masses in all sectors to participate in performance activities and soliciting opinions and suggestions from the masses in all sectors, and effectively promoted the smooth transmission of the demands of all sectors to Party committees and governments. For example, in order to precisely offer suggestions for scientifically planning the 15th Five-Year Plan, activities such as "I Offer a Suggestion for the Compilation of the 15th Five-Year Plan (我为编制'十五五'规划献一计)" have been extensively carried out. On this basis, focusing on the topic of "basing on the overall situation of modernization, compiling the Shanghai 15th Five-Year Plan with high quality," a special session of the Standing Committee for political consultation was held, actively contributing the wisdom of the CPPCC. Around stabilizing economic growth, members of the Chairman's Council of the Municipal CPPCC respectively led research groups, focused on key areas such as high-end manufacturing and foreign investment and trade, visited and investigated enterprises, listened deeply to opinions and suggestions, and timely reflected them to Party committees and governments, promoting the resolution of related problems.
Fully utilize the advantages of the direct channel for social conditions and public opinion, and accurately convey the voices of the masses in all sectors. The work of reflecting information on social conditions and public opinion is connected to the masses in all sectors at one end and to Party committees and governments at the other, and is an important way to practice the Party's mass line in the new era. It is of great significance for assisting Party committees and governments in hearing the voices of the people, understanding the sentiments of the people, solving the worries of the people, and warming the hearts of the people. It is necessary to focus on improving the whole-process mechanism of collecting, editing, verifying, reviewing, and reporting information on social conditions and public opinion, promote all participating units of the CPPCC, all special committees, and all CPPCC members to proactively go down and extend the reach of their duties, 广开言路 (guǎng kāi yán lù - "broadly open the road of speech," opening wide channels for airing views) and unblock channels for expressing public opinion, deeply grasp the livelihood issues strongly reflected by the masses, deeply understand the governance problems affecting social harmony, deeply collect opinions and suggestions for promoting reform and development, strive to transform scattered public opinion demands into specific good strategies and practical measures, transform the masses' "problem list" into members' "performance list," and let the masses in all sectors personally feel that the CPPCC is very close to them and that members are right by their side. The Shanghai CPPCC has continuously improved the mechanism for reflecting social conditions and public opinion, especially deepening the brand building of the "Direct Channel for Suggestions on Social Conditions and Public Opinion (社情民意建言直通车)," innovatively launching the "Face-to-Face Social Conditions and Public Opinion (社情民意面对面)" consultative symposium, organizing CPPCC members in relevant fields to conduct face-to-face, in-depth consultation with the masses in all sectors and representatives of community residents around key topics of Shanghai's urban governance and livelihood improvement such as the silver economy, sports consumption, and property management, and effectively building a complete closed loop of "extensive collection of public opinion — precise transformation of suggestions — timely feedback of results," making the work on social conditions and public opinion more effective and substantive.
Improve the mechanism for broad consensus building, and focus on pooling the hearts of the people in achieving full-coverage unity of all sectors
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the support or opposition of the people and the balance of strength are the key to determining the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people, and constitute the biggest politics." At present, changes in the world, changes in the times, and changes in history are continuously extending in breadth and depth, and the tasks of China's reform, development, and stability are unprecedentedly arduous and heavy. This requires the CPPCC to improve the working mechanism for giving play to the united front's political role of gathering hearts and pooling strength, do more work to strengthen confidence, gather popular sentiment, warm people's hearts, and build common aspiration, better shoulder the political responsibility of "implementing downward and gathering together," further gather hearts and pool strength, continuously consolidate the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups in the country, and strengthen the great unity of Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad.
Guard the political center of the circle well, and consolidate the common ideological and political foundation. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most distinctive feature of the united front and the fundamental guarantee for the development and progress of the CPPCC's cause. As a political organization led by the Party, the CPPCC must always take upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics as the main axis for consolidating the common ideological and political foundation, take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the general outline for guiding CPPCC work, continuously improve the institutional mechanisms for the Party's comprehensive leadership over CPPCC work, optimize the learning system led by the theoretical learning center group of the Party leadership group, improve the systems of integrating consensus building into duty performance, contacting members and having heart-to-heart talks, and briefing meetings on key concerns, and effectively transform the Party's will and propositions into the high consensus and conscious action of all parties, groups, and people of all ethnic groups and from all walks of life. The Shanghai CPPCC has continuously improved the responsibility, organization, and institutional systems of CPPCC Party building, implemented the mechanism for members of the CPPCC Party leadership group, members of the Chairman's Council, and directors of special committees to contact members, strictly implemented the "first topic" system, strictly implemented the system of requesting instructions and reporting on major matters, carefully built the "Pujiang Panorama Great Lecture Hall (浦江纵横大讲堂)" unified learning platform, and ensured that the Party's leadership is comprehensively, systematically, and holistically implemented in all aspects and the entire process of CPPCC work.
Lengthen the radius of inclusiveness, and extensively build consensus among all sectors of society. Chinese modernization is the cause of all the Chinese people and requires the common struggle of Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad. It is necessary to firmly grasp the requirements of the times for unity and struggle, continuously establish and improve the mechanisms for giving play to the advantages of the new type of party system, the learning and practice mechanism for members of the ethnic minority sector and the religious sector, the communication and liaison mechanism with non-Party intellectuals, non-public economic figures, and people in new social strata, and the mechanism for members to contact the masses in their sectors, pooling majestic strength for the cause of building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation. The Shanghai CPPCC upholds the importance of unity and attaches great importance to unity, and through building effective platforms, strives to promote the concretization, normalization, and effectiveness of the consensus-building mechanism. For example, it has implemented the "Sunshine Education (阳光育人)" plan to help ethnic minority college students who come to Shanghai grow and become accomplished; run the "Great Love Warms Shencheng · Religious Charity in Action (大爱暖申城·宗教慈善在行动)" project well to support religious circles in carrying out public welfare and charity activities; held the "Shanghai Study and Practice Program for Macao Young Talents (澳门青年人才上海学习实践计划)" to focus on cultivating young talents who love the country and love Macao; and held symposiums for overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese managers, a special symposium for Taiwan compatriots in Shanghai, and the "Overseas Chinese and Returnees Gathering (侨海荟)" salon, gathering hearts and strength at home and abroad.
Take the initiative to speak externally, and tell the story of Chinese people's democracy well. Serving the overall situation of the country's external work and telling the world the stories of China and of Chinese people's democracy well is an important responsibility of the CPPCC. It is necessary to continuously give play to the principal role of members, proactively and positively speak to the international community, promote the broad membership to tell, in foreign exchanges, Chinese stories that are more grounded, can gather popularity, and evoke resonance in language acceptable to the international community, and proactively carry out publicity toward foreign nationals coming to China, helping expand the circle of friends who understand China and are friendly to China. The Shanghai CPPCC has fully relied on Shanghai's locational advantage of being at the forefront of reform and opening up, carefully held briefings for foreign nationals, activities of "foreign nationals walking into the CPPCC," and other events, and extensively made and deepened friendships with overseas friends. In particular, it has innovatively established practice sites for whole-process people's democracy, carefully created an important platform for carrying out consultative democracy and an important window for displaying the landscape of whole-process people's democracy, and invited foreign delegations, consular officials stationed in Shanghai, representatives of friendship cities, Magnolia Award winners, chamber of commerce representatives, and international students to visit the practice sites, enhancing understanding and recognition of Chinese-style democracy. At the same time, relying on activities such as the "Chinese Culture Tour for Taiwan Youth (中华文化台青行)" and "CPPCC Members Face-to-Face with Taiwan Youth and Taiwan Students (政协委员与台青台生面对面)," it has invited Taiwan youth and Taiwan students in Shanghai to walk into the CPPCC and the practice sites, deeply appreciate the institutional advantages and governance effectiveness of whole-process people's democracy, and continuously strengthen their identification with the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, and the great motherland.
Return to TopBy: 游志斌
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has consistently treated disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work as a major matter concerning the safety of the people and national security. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan states: "Adhere to putting the people first and life first, enhance in an integrated manner (一体提升) the capabilities for disaster mitigation and prevention, disaster resistance and fortification, and disaster relief and support, and effectively reduce losses from various disasters and accidents." When presiding over the 25th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To do disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work well, we must adhere to the Party's overall leadership, adhere to putting the people first and life first, adhere to respecting the laws of nature, adhere to putting prevention first, adhere to reform and innovation, adhere to a systemic approach, and adhere to social co-governance." This important exposition is grounded in the era's mission of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, and provides scientific theory and fundamental guidance for doing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work well in the new era.
Fully recognize the extreme importance of the integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
The integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities is a major task in the Party Central Committee's continuously deepening strategic deployment for disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "adhering to a systemic approach" and required "coordinating well the work of comprehensive rescue, transitional resettlement, and recovery and reconstruction," more prominently highlighting the holistic response of system integration and whole-process linkage.
An inevitable requirement for following the laws of disaster prevention and control. Disaster losses are jointly determined by such factors as hazard intensity, the exposure of people and assets, the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies, and response capacity. In practice, territorial spatial control, hidden danger investigation, monitoring and early warning, and evacuation for risk avoidance can reduce risk exposure; engineering fortification, facility reinforcement, and redundancy construction can reduce system vulnerability; rescue and relief, material transportation, and recovery and reconstruction control the expansion of post-disaster losses. The absence or weakness of any one link amplifies the pressure on other links. Insufficient prevention increases pressure on the response end; insufficient fortification makes it difficult for early warning to translate into loss reduction; insufficient support obstructs post-disaster relief and recovery. Conversely, high-level disaster prevention can substantially reduce disaster losses and even avoid harm; high-standard fortification can delay system failure and win time for rescue; post-disaster investigation and review can reveal upstream defects and create conditions for continuous optimization. "Integrated enhancement" means systematically improving disaster management and control capability from a full-lifecycle perspective, with coordinated use of all processes, all means, and all factors.
A practical need for responding to major and catastrophic disasters and risk complexes. Major and catastrophic disasters often break through the boundaries of administrative regions, sectoral departments, and conventional resource allocation. For example, an extreme rainstorm can simultaneously trigger mountain torrents, landslides, and waterlogging, causing traffic interruption and communication damage; a strong earthquake may bring building collapse and damage, gas leakage, fire, and crowding of medical resources. Traditional governance mostly configures facilities and forces on the basis of history, whereas the governance of major and catastrophic disasters must focus on low-probability scenarios with multiple loss consequences. It is necessary to reasonably set up safety redundancy, alternative means, and fallback plans, and make full preparations for the "three disruptions" (road disruption, network disruption, and power disruption), cross-regional reinforcement, and relatively long-term resettlement. "Integrated enhancement" means planning as a whole and from a long-term perspective, converting measures for responding to potential major risks into planning, construction, and preparation actions, and responding to the uncertain consequences of major disaster risks with the certainty of capability enhancement.
The inevitable path for advancing the modernization of the national emergency management system and capacity. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has continuously advanced reforms to the institutional mechanisms for disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief. The national comprehensive fire rescue teams, national regional emergency rescue centers, and professional forces have been built at an accelerated pace, and the systems for disaster resistance and fortification, monitoring and early warning, material reserves, and disaster relief have been continuously improved. In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the third meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, which studied improving China's natural disaster prevention and control capabilities and, targeting key areas and weak links, explicitly proposed promoting the construction of nine key projects. In the long run, China's comprehensive disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities still face problems such as catastrophe response urgently needing strengthening, disaster information sharing and assessment urgently needing improvement, unsmooth cross-regional coordination mechanisms, insufficient professional emergency rescue forces, difficulty in the peacetime-emergency conversion of facilities, and uneven urban and rural emergency response capabilities. "Integrated enhancement" is precisely about solving the problems of fragmentation and weak linkage in existing disaster management work that in turn affect overall governance effectiveness.
Basic connotation of the integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
The essence of the integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities is to enhance system effectiveness in disaster governance through overall design, system integration, and joint efforts in the same direction. On the whole, it vertically connects all levels from the national to the grassroots; horizontally opens the information and action chains of departments such as emergency management, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, water resources, meteorology, transport, energy, communications, and health; temporally links prevention, preparedness, response, relief, recovery, and reconstruction; and spatially strengthens joint prevention and coordinated control across regions, river basins, and urban agglomerations.
Reduce the generation and accumulation of risks at the source through disaster mitigation and prevention. Disaster mitigation and prevention is the first gateway of disaster risk governance. Its core is to identify, avoid, reduce, and transfer risks before a disaster, and its contents include the updating of risk survey results, territorial spatial use control, risk assessment of major projects, hidden danger treatment, monitoring and early warning, pre-disaster evacuation, and public education. For risks that can be avoided through planning, one must not place all hope on post-event emergency rescue and remediation; for hidden disaster dangers that can be eliminated through routine work, one must not delay until disaster-imminent response; for risks that are difficult to completely eliminate, personnel exposure should be reduced through early warning, contingency plans, and evacuation. Effectiveness should not be measured only by the number of inspections and the volume of information released, but by whether disaster risks have substantively declined, whether early warnings have truly translated into action, and whether people in dangerous areas can be evacuated in a timely manner.
Improve system safety and resilience through disaster resistance and fortification. Disaster resistance and fortification is the intermediate barrier connecting prevention and rescue, with the focus on reducing the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies through engineering and non-engineering measures. It is necessary both to raise the fortification standards of key infrastructure in key cities and disaster-prone areas, advance the reinforcement of housing, dikes, reservoirs, bridges and tunnels, gas pipeline networks, and power and communications facilities, and build shelters and emergency corridors, and to improve the rules for operation and maintenance, emergency conversion, and cross-system linkage. Modern fortification must not only pursue "no major damage" to facilities; it must also attach importance to the maintenance of function after impact, rapid and effective substitution, and swift recovery. Systems such as power supply, communications, transport, and logistics should have backstop means; key places such as hospitals, schools, and elderly care institutions should have conditions for continuous operation and rapid evacuation, so as to prevent the failure of a single node from triggering system faults and a single disaster from evolving into cascading disasters and accidents.
Effectively support disaster response and rescue and support recovery and reconstruction through relief support. Prevention and fortification cannot eliminate all risks, and relief support is an irreplaceable backstop capability. Its scope includes not only unified command, professional rescue, medical treatment, emergency communications, and material delivery, but also basic living assistance, care for groups with special difficulties, health and epidemic prevention, transitional resettlement, and recovery and reconstruction. The goal is not merely "emergency responders arriving at the scene," but ensuring that under the most unfavorable conditions the command chain is uninterrupted, the rescue chain is effective, the material chain is unimpeded, and the bottom line of people's livelihoods is held. Force composition, reserve layout, transport agreements, requisition compensation, and cross-regional reinforcement mechanisms must all be clarified before a disaster and tested through practical drills. Post-disaster reconstruction should optimize site selection and raise standards in light of exposed problems, prevent risks from accumulating and amplifying, and reserve space for future disaster response.
Main challenges facing the integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
At present, China's comprehensive disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities have been significantly enhanced, but it still faces prominent problems such as lagging risk cognition, poor cross-departmental coordination, uneven urban-rural fortification, weak linkage between early warning and action, and insufficient grassroots and all-factor support.
The entrenched disaster governance cognition does not match the needs of risk governance capability. Some risk assessments still rely mainly on historical disaster situations and single disaster types, giving insufficient consideration to extreme events, disaster chains, infrastructure interdependence, and dynamic population exposure. If risk survey results lack routine updating, they can easily become a "static baseline ledger"; if plans and contingency plans do not carry out targeted scenario deduction, it is also difficult to identify the system's carrying ceiling. For example, the release of early warning information does not match grassroots response actions. Although monitoring precision continues to improve, a "warning issued" does not equal "information delivered," and "information delivered" does not equal "the masses acting correctly." It is urgent to open up the "last mile" and establish an institutional chain from technical signals to organizational action and public behavior.
The separation between vertical departmental lines and horizontal territorial blocks (条块分割) does not match the requirements of cross-departmental and cross-regional coordination. Disaster risks cross administrative and sectoral boundaries, but risk data, engineering construction, warning release, emergency response, and post-disaster relief may still belong to different departments. Some localities have such phenomena as inconsistent data standards, unclear sharing authorizations, and disconnection between consultative assessment and command action; the rules for team interfaces, equipment communications, material dispatch, and cost settlement for cross-regional reinforcement are also not unified.
All-factor support and long-term investment do not match the requirements of systematic development. The benefits of prevention are often manifested as "losses that did not occur," which are less intuitive than rescue results, and there is a tendency to emphasize equipment over maintenance, construction over training, and short-term remediation over long-term governance. Some grassroots areas lack professional personnel, the mechanisms for social forces to participate are imperfect, and household and community reserves are limited. Without stable investment, legal standards, talent, and evaluation incentives, individual projects and technologies are difficult to transform into sustained capability.
Pathway for advancing the integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
The integrated enhancement of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities must adhere to the Party's overall leadership, adhere to a systemic approach, carry the protection of life, the guarantee of basic livelihoods, and the care for vulnerable groups through the entire process, and establish a correct view of political achievements that values both post-disaster response and recovery and routine disaster prevention and mitigation.
Lead the building of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities with an all-domain risk governance institutional mechanism. Adhere to the integration of unified and divided responsibilities, the linkage of prevention and rescue, and the coordination of upper and lower levels, and clarify professional, territorial, and collaborative responsibilities. Establishing a unified system for disaster risk identification, classification, management and control, and updating is the foundation of "integrated enhancement." Fully apply the results of the comprehensive natural disaster risk survey, form dynamic lists and a spatial "single map" according to "risk point—responsible person—control measure—emergency resource," and incorporate hazard factors, disaster-bearing bodies, vulnerable populations, shelters, rescue forces, and material reserves into the same risk base map. Carry out comprehensive multi-disaster assessments for urban agglomerations, major river basins, energy bases, transport hubs, and major projects; study disaster chains and cross-regional impacts; and clarify the priority order of risk avoidance, engineering treatment, monitoring and early warning, and emergency preparedness. Establish a full-lifecycle disaster risk assessment mechanism for major projects. In the site selection and project initiation stage, strengthen multi-department joint review to avoid adding major risks; in the construction stage, implement fortification standards and safety facility requirements; in the operation stage, carry out dynamic monitoring, hidden danger treatment, and periodic assessment; and reassess when renovation and expansion, change of use, or changes in surrounding risks occur. Establish a closed loop of "early warning—call-and-respond—feedback—response" (预警—叫应—反馈—响应), clarify the consultation, inspection, suspension of work and classes, traffic control, and evacuation and risk avoidance measures corresponding to different warning levels, and ensure that responsibilities reach posts and measures reach individuals.
Consolidate the foundation of disaster resistance with safe and resilient urban and rural areas and "dual-use peacetime-emergency" (平急两用) facilities. Carry safety and resilience requirements through territorial spatial planning and all types of construction planning, scientifically delimit key areas for disaster risk prevention and control, and strictly implement risk avoidance and use control. Rural areas should improve the disaster prevention and resistance standards of rural housing, strengthen hidden danger treatment in mountain torrent and geological disaster danger zones, slope-cut house building, and roads, bridges, and culverts, and avoid the urban-rural capability gap becoming a short board in overall safety. Advance the construction of "dual-use peacetime-emergency" public infrastructure, coordinate incremental construction and the revitalization of existing stock, so that facilities such as tourism and accommodation, medical services, warehousing and logistics, and public venues have sustainable operation functions in peacetime and can be rapidly converted into spaces for isolation, treatment, resettlement, storage and transport, or command support in major emergencies. From the very beginning of construction, the conversion scenarios, activation authority, time requirements, personnel organization, material interfaces, and compensation mechanisms should be clarified, and conditions for water, electricity, communications, sanitation, accessibility, and transport connections should be tested through regular drills.
Guarantee effective linkage through whole-process institutional development. In the fields of natural disaster prevention and control, emergency rescue teams, monitoring and early warning, materials and equipment, and investigation and assessment, accelerate the improvement of the system of laws, regulations, and standards, and clarify the rights and obligations of governments at all levels, sectoral departments, enterprises and public institutions, and social actors at each stage of prevention, fortification, response, relief, and reconstruction. Strengthen cross-regional coordinated legislation and standard alignment, and promote the unification of key institutions such as early warning information, force mobilization, material requisition, facility conversion, and data sharing. Conduct timely research on rules for risks brought by new industries and new business forms, so as to avoid vacuums in regulatory responsibility. Establish and improve the assessment and evaluation system for disaster governance, assessing not only the response speed and handling results after disasters occur, but also the magnitude of reduction in major risks, the compliance rate of fortification standards, the conversion rate of early warnings into action, the availability rate of shelter facilities, the timeliness of material allocation, and the safety skills of the masses, so that "prevent well, lose little" is manifested as measurable governance performance.
Drive the continuous improvement and refinement of the system through a closed loop of review and evaluation. Every disaster, danger incident, and drill should become an opportunity to test the system. Establish a review system covering monitoring and early warning, command and dispatch, engineering performance, team actions, material support, mass evacuation, and information release, investigating not only direct causes and responsibilities but also deep-level problems in planning, standards, institutions, and resource allocation. Rectification tasks should be formed into lists, with clarified responsibilities, time limits, and acceptance standards, and the results should be fed back into risk databases, construction planning, contingency plans, and training content. Improve the mid-term assessment, summative assessment, and third-party assessment mechanisms for plan implementation, and shift evaluation from the quantity of inputs and activities to the effects of risk reduction and functional recovery. Conduct cross-regional and cross-industry comparisons on recurring problems, and promote the unified resolution of common short boards through standards and institutions. Through continuous review, achieve "governing one risk, improving one type of mechanism, and enhancing one domain's capability," and truly make "integrated enhancement" a dynamic iterative process.
[The author is Deputy Director of the Institute of Emergency Management Research of the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance)]
Return to TopBy: 马丽
The orientation in selecting and appointing officials is the most important, the most fundamental, and also the most effective factor, and serves as an important weather vane for guiding officials to establish and practice a correct view of political achievements. General Secretary Xi Jinping recently issued an important instruction on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, emphasizing: "We must use the assessment baton well, improve the differentiated assessment and evaluation system, establish an orientation in selecting and appointing officials that values earnest work and actual achievements (重实干重实绩), and let officials who dare to take responsibility, dare to shoulder burdens, are good at making accomplishments, and have outstanding actual achievements be given important posts." This important exposition profoundly clarifies the fundamental issue of "whom to select and whom to appoint," and demonstrates our Party's distinct stance of judging heroes by earnest work and appointing officials by actual achievements.
Selecting and appointing officials is a critical and fundamental matter bearing on the development of the Party's and the people's cause. A correct orientation is the most fundamental and most important requirement of the work of selecting and appointing officials. Only when the orientation of official appointment is held high and made distinct can the broad ranks of officials better perform their duties, fulfill their responsibilities, shoulder their tasks, and make accomplishments; when the orientation deviates, it will affect officials' morale and cause 歪风邪气 (wāi fēng xié qì - "crooked winds and evil airs," unhealthy trends and malpractices) to breed. Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has vigorously fostered a clean and upright environment for selecting and appointing officials and established the orientation of valuing earnest work and actual achievements, and officials' enthusiasm for work has continued to rise. But we must also be soberly aware that some places still harbor the erroneous mentality of "doing more leads to more mistakes, doing less leads to fewer mistakes, and doing nothing leads to no mistakes," and have even formed a vicious circle in which "bad money drives out good money." Once such an orientation spreads, it will inevitably dampen the initiative of those who work in earnest and ultimately delay the development of the cause. Promoting the high-quality development of the cause can never be achieved by shouting slogans and doing hollow work; it must rely on a large number of Party members and officials who are 脚踏实地 (jiǎo tà shí dì - "planting feet on solid ground," down-to-earth and realistic) and who truly grasp and solidly do the work. Distinctly establishing the orientation of valuing earnest work and actual achievements in selecting and appointing officials is not only a practical need for correcting erroneous views of political achievements, but also an important requirement for the cause to 行稳致远 (xíng wěn zhì yuǎn - "walk steadily and reach far," advance steadily and go far).
Working in earnest means being down-to-earth and seeking no empty fame; it means knowing the weight and bearing it, and doing no hollow work. To identify earnest work, one must see whether officials dare to draw their swords when facing 大是大非 (dà shì dà fēi - "great right and great wrong," fundamental issues of principle), whether they dare to 迎难而上 (yíng nán ér shàng - "advance against difficulties," meet challenges head-on) when facing contradictions, whether they dare to 挺身而出 (tǐng shēn ér chū - "straighten up and step out," step forward courageously) when facing crises, whether they dare to assume responsibility when facing mistakes, and whether they dare to wage a resolute struggle when facing unhealthy tendencies and evil practices; the spirit of earnest work of officials is tested on the main battlefield of reform and development and in urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks. To identify earnest work, one must also see whether officials have the resolve for 久久为功 (jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - "long, long effort brings success," persisting for lasting results), pay attention to understanding officials' consistent performance, take their attitudes toward right and wrong, the public and the private, and truth and falsehood in daily work as the basic basis, and see whether they can calm their minds and quietly plow, and whether they can bend down and throw themselves into implementation. Officials who make selfless contributions should be discovered in a timely manner and boldly appointed; resolutely prevent the "flower shelf," "kick the ball around," and "take a detour" behaviors that go 背道而驰 (bèi dào ér chí - "gallop in the opposite direction," run directly counter) to the spirit of earnest work.
Officials' political achievements include both visible achievements (显绩) that produce results in the short term and are directly observable and tangible, and latent achievements (潜绩) that lay foundations, increase staying power, and benefit the long term. In weighing actual achievements, one should look at both development and foundations, both visible achievements and latent achievements, resolutely do away with the one-sided orientation of judging heroes simply by the GDP growth rate, take indicators such as improvement in people's livelihoods, social progress, and ecological benefits as the content of assessment, and take the people's sense of gain, sense of happiness, and sense of security as the fundamental criterion for judging leading officials' achievements in promoting high-quality development. Officials who are keen on making 表面文章 (biǎo miàn wén zhāng - "surface essays," superficial displays), or even engage in "image projects" and "vanity projects" (形象工程、政绩工程), must not only be denied important posts, but must also be strictly held accountable. Only in this way can the short-term behaviors that seek 急功近利 (jí gōng jìn lì - "eager for merit and close-at-hand profit," quick success and instant gains) be effectively curbed, the broad ranks of officials be guided to maintain strategic resolve and historical patience, and the blueprint for the development of the cause be carried through to the end.
Valuing earnest work and actual achievements must be guaranteed by a scientific assessment mechanism. There is no unified model for cadre assessment that can "包打天下" (bāo dǎ tiān xià - "single-handedly conquer all under heaven," handle everything alone); the differentiated assessment and evaluation system must be improved. Adhering to 实事求是 (shí shì qiú shì - "seek truth from facts," practical and realistic) and basing ourselves on the objective reality that localities differ in resource endowments, baseline levels, development stages, and the positioning of main functional zones (主体功能区), we should implement graded and categorized assessment for principal leading officials, members of leading groups, and leading officials in different posts according to their division of duties and post characteristics, so as to avoid "the same thickness from top to bottom" and "the same look from left to right." We should promote the regularization, institutionalization, and full coverage of assessment work, put the effort into day-to-day work, look at both officials' usual performance and their sense of responsibility at critical moments, and draw "precise portraits" of officials. We should continuously improve the construction of the systems for cultivating officials' qualities, understanding affairs and knowing people, selecting and appointing, strict management, and positive incentives; take comprehensive and precise assessment results as the important basis for rewards and punishments and for promotion and appointment of officials; fully bring into play the role of cadre assessment as the baton, weather vane, and booster; let officials who 埋头苦干 (mái tóu kǔ gàn - "bury their heads in hard work," work hard in obscurity) and truly grasp and solidly do the work truly be given important posts and fully display their talents; and promote the formation of a distinct orientation in which the capable are promoted, the excellent are rewarded, the mediocre step down, and the inferior are eliminated (能者上、优者奖、庸者下、劣者汰).
"The root of governance lies in obtaining the right people; obtaining the right people lies in careful selection; careful selection lies in verifying the truth." Establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a long-term task. Party organizations at all levels must firmly establish the orientation of valuing earnest work and actual achievements in selecting and appointing officials, and firmly implement and carry this orientation through. Guide Party members and officials to always do practical things with their feet planted on solid ground, create actual achievements by burying their heads in hard work, and continuously push forward the cause of modernization.
Return to TopSince the 18th National Congress of the Party, comprehensive and strict governance of the Party has achieved great accomplishments, opened up a new realm for the self-revolution of the century-old Party, and propelled the cause of the Party and the state to achieve historic accomplishments and undergo historic changes. The Party and the people have won the historical initiative of building a strong Party and a strong country. At the same time, as global, national, and Party conditions have undergone profound changes, comprehensive and strict governance of the Party also faces many new situations and new problems. The whole Party must, from the strategic height of consolidating the Party's ruling position and fulfilling the Party's mission and tasks, profoundly understand the great significance of 持之以恒 (chí zhī yǐ héng - "hold to it with constancy," to persevere) in advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, strengthen confidence, maintain resolve, and with higher standards and more concrete measures, uphold and apply well the precious experience of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the new era, rectify and solve well the prominent problems facing Party building, and consolidate and develop well the sound political situation formed by managing and governing the Party.
Return to TopBy: 曹立
High-quality development is a major overarching and original signature concept in Xi Jinping's economic thought. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping, standing at the strategic height of advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, applying the Marxist worldview and methodology, and based on the new normal of economic development, the new era, and the new stage, has systematically answered the major questions of the era of what high-quality development is and how to achieve high-quality development, enriching the Communist Party of China's theory on development in such respects as development stage, development orientation, development philosophy, and development path. High-quality development has endowed Marxist political economy with new meaning for the era and made important original contributions to enriching and developing Marxist political economy.
China's economic development has entered a new era, which has clarified the historical positioning of high-quality development.
When the positioning is clear, the thinking becomes clear. Correctly understanding the historical positioning and development stage of the cause of the Party and the people is the fundamental basis on which our Party defines the central tasks of a given stage and formulates its line, principles, and policies; it is also the important experience through which our Party has continuously won victories in leading revolution, construction, and reform.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has continuously deepened its understanding of the stage-specific features of China's economic development. Faced with the prominent structural contradictions and problems in China's economic development and the continued increase of downward pressure on the economy, as well as the severe challenges brought by the continued spread of the deep-seated impact of the international financial crisis, the weak recovery of the world economy, and rising protectionism, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that China's economic development has entered the new normal, and that understanding, adapting to, and leading the new normal is the major logic of China's economic development for the current and coming period. He emphasized that China's economic development should be driven to evolve toward a stage with more advanced forms, more optimized division of labor, and more rational structure. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and China's economic development has also entered a new era. The feature of China's economic development in the new era is what I emphasized in my report to the 19th National Congress of the Party: China's economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development." This is a major judgment made on the new historical positioning of China's economic development. On the one hand, China's economic development has entered the new normal, which reveals the objective trend of China's economic development; on the other hand, China's economy has entered a new stage of development, which reveals the basic tasks that China's economy must accomplish in the new stage of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Both the development requirements deduced from the major logic of the new normal and the development tasks put forward by the new stage of development are inseparable from the fundamental requirement and development theme put forward by the new era—"shifting from high-speed growth to high-quality development."
Therefore, to understand high-quality development as a signature concept of Xi Jinping's economic thought, one must first understand the new historical positioning of economic development. This marks both the end of the traditional extensive development mode that simply pursued GDP growth and the arrival of an intensive development mode that takes promoting high-quality development as its theme and takes quality reform, efficiency reform, and momentum reform as its substance, marking that China's economy has opened a new era of high-quality development.
High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, which clarifies the strategic status of high-quality development.
The strategic status answers the question of the fundamental position of high-quality development in the process of building a modern and strong country. General Secretary Xi Jinping grasps high-quality development in the overall strategic context of building a strong country, national rejuvenation, and Chinese modernization. This is a major judgment of an overall and long-term nature, made on the basis of summarizing the general laws of modernization in other countries of the world and deeply analyzing the changes in the principal contradiction in Chinese society.
First, high-quality development can provide a more solid material foundation for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. In the process of advancing modernization in a country or region, economic construction can create more and better material wealth and provide material support for modernization. Only when the aggregate scale of the economy continues to expand and the quality and efficiency of development further improve can the material conditions of our country's construction cause in all aspects be continuously consolidated, and can there be a more solid material foundation for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Taking economic construction as the central task is the key to rejuvenating the country, and development remains the key to solving all of China's problems. Only by promoting sustained and sound economic development can we build a solid material foundation for the country's prosperity and strength, the people's happiness and well-being, and social harmony and stability." He stressed, "We should attach importance to quantitative development, but we should pay more attention to solving qualitative problems, achieving effective quantitative growth amid a major improvement in quality."
Second, high-quality development is an important support for resolving the principal contradiction in Chinese society on the new journey. Since entering the new era, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed into the contradiction between the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. From the perspective of meeting the needs of the people, the people's ever-growing needs for a better life are increasingly extensive; higher requirements are raised not only for material and cultural life, but also for democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, the environment, and other aspects. To achieve the goal of "making more notable and substantive progress in common prosperity for all the people," it is necessary to continuously develop the productive forces, raise labor productivity, and, through high-quality economic development, advance a leap in the capacity for wealth creation. From the perspective of solving the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development, the contradictions and problems in China's economic development are mainly manifested in weak capacity for scientific and technological innovation, insufficient quality of the supply system, and relatively high consumption of resource and factor inputs; there are still many chokepoints and bottlenecks in promoting high-quality development. To achieve high-quality development, it is necessary to optimize the production function, raise total factor productivity, and continuously shape new drivers and new advantages for development.
Finally, high-quality development is an important guarantee for responding to the profound changes in the international environment and meeting risks and challenges. The global political and economic landscape is undergoing major adjustments, major divisions, and major reorganizations. Uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently. Issues such as global food security, energy security, resource security, and the security of industrial and supply chains have become more prominent. Only by promoting high-quality development can we achieve security and controllability in key fields such as important industries, infrastructure, strategic resources, and major science and technology, prevent and defuse major risks, hold the bottom line of security, and ensure that China's modernization process proceeds steadily and goes far.
High-quality development is development that embodies the new development philosophy, which clarifies the value orientation and scientific connotation of high-quality development.
With regard to the basic connotation of high-quality development, at the 2017 Central Economic Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "High-quality development is development that can well satisfy the people's ever-growing needs for a better life; it is development that embodies the new development philosophy; it is development in which innovation becomes the primary driving force, coordination becomes an inherent characteristic, green becomes a universal form, opening up becomes the path that must be taken, and sharing becomes the fundamental purpose." He also expounded the basic features of high-quality development from the aspects of supply, demand, input-output, distribution, and macroeconomic circulation.
General Secretary Xi Jinping integrated the promotion of high-quality development with meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and emphasized promoting common prosperity through high-quality development, which embodies the distinct value orientation of high-quality development and profoundly illustrates our Party's people-centered development philosophy. At the same time, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "High-quality development is not merely an economic requirement, but a general requirement for all aspects of economic and social development; it is not merely a requirement for economically developed regions, but a requirement that must be implemented in the development of all regions; it is not merely a requirement for a particular time or a particular matter, but a requirement that must be upheld for a long time. All regions should, in light of their actual conditions, act 因地制宜 (yīn dì zhì yí - "act according to local conditions," to suit measures to local conditions), foster strengths and make up for weaknesses, and blaze a path of high-quality development suited to their own actual conditions." He also stressed that leading officials must thoroughly understand the people-centered development philosophy, uphold a correct view of political achievements, revere history, revere culture, and revere ecology, make decisions with prudence, and exercise power with prudence. Therefore, to achieve high-quality development, we must take benefiting the people as the fundamental value orientation, promote coordinated development on a larger scale, in a wider range of fields, and at a higher level, persist in safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods in the course of development, and steadily promote common prosperity for all the people.
Defining high-quality development with the five development ideas of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing has raised our Party's understanding of high-quality development to a new realm. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the Party, we have put forward many major theories and concepts for economic and social development, among which the new development philosophy is the most important and the most fundamental. The new development philosophy is a systematic theoretical system that answers a series of theoretical and practical questions about the purpose, driving force, mode, and path of development, and expounds major political questions such as our Party's political stance, value orientation, development model, and development path with regard to development. As a signature concept, high-quality development takes the happiness of the people and common prosperity as its fundamental purpose, achieving both the unity of goal orientation and problem orientation in high-quality development and the unity of the understanding of the laws of nature and the laws of social development.
Developing new quality productive forces is the intrinsic requirement of and an important focal point for promoting high-quality development, which clarifies the key path of high-quality development.
General Secretary Xi Jinping combined the basic principles of the Marxist theory of productive forces with China's concrete reality and, with 高瞻远瞩 (gāo zhān yuǎn zhǔ - "look far from a high vantage point," far-sighted vision), put forward and expounded the entirely new concept of new quality productive forces. A series of important expositions on new quality productive forces have provided a methodological path for promoting high-quality development on the new journey of the new era.
New quality productive forces are advanced productive forces driven by scientific and technological innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "New quality productive forces are an advanced qualitative state of productive forces in which innovation plays a leading role, which break away from traditional economic growth modes and paths of productive force development, which possess the characteristics of high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, and which conform to the new development philosophy." Innovation has become the core element of developing the productive forces. "Science and technology have never before affected the future and destiny of a country as profoundly as they do today." Information technology, biotechnology, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and other technologies promote each other, accelerate integration, and advance on multiple fronts, rewriting the innovation model dominated by a single technological breakthrough. At the same time, the general-purpose nature of the new round of scientific and technological innovation is prominent, giving birth to a host of entirely new production models such as digital manufacturing and networked collaborative manufacturing.
New quality productive forces expand the connotation and extension of the laborers, the means of labor, and the objects of labor. On the one hand, they accelerate the integrated development of the digital economy and traditional industries, give play to the enabling role of digital technology, expand the efficiency frontier of traditional productive forces, make up for the shortcomings of traditional industries in development, promote traditional industries to form a new "technology-economy paradigm," and lead the industrial structure to advance in the high-level direction of "going upward," "going for excellence," and "going green." On the other hand, new quality productive forces comprehensively enhance the independent innovation capacity of industries and consolidate the "technology foundation" of an independent technology system. They accelerate the cluster development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, and the low-altitude economy; promote quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications to become new economic growth points; and comprehensively raise the international competitiveness of China's industrial system.
Return to TopBy: 王鑫
In January 1989, the article "The Basic Skill of Cadres: Maintaining Close Ties with the Masses" (干部的基本功——密切联系人民群众), written by Comrade Xi Jinping while he was working in Ningde, Fujian (福建宁德), clearly put forward: "A leader must be competent. Where does competence come from?" He gave a profound answer: "Competence comes from the understanding and mastery of objective laws, and what is of a law-like nature is precisely contained in the practice of the broad masses." This important thesis runs through epistemology, axiology, and methodology, revealing the fundamental mechanism by which leadership competence is generated: it is not automatically conferred by position, nor is it "written out" from documents or "spoken out" at meetings, but is formed in upholding the people's standpoint, going deep into practice, grasping laws, and solving difficult problems.
Leadership work, on the surface, is planning, decision-making, organizing, and coordinating; in essence, it is understanding and applying laws and turning understanding of laws into practical strength. In measuring whether a cadre has competence, one cannot look only at what has been said and what has been written; one must look all the more at whether he can grasp the essence amid multifarious phenomena, seize the key amid complex contradictions, find methods in the masses' creativity, and turn the Party's correct propositions into the masses' conscious action. Position can bring power, but it will not automatically bring truth; life experience can accumulate experience, but it will not necessarily form understanding of laws. Leadership competence, in the final analysis, comes from the people and from practice.
Calibrate the direction of understanding from the people's standpoint. In understanding the world, there is first the question of on whose standpoint one stands and for whom one understands. Marxist historical materialism reveals that the masses of the people are the subject of social history. This is both a political standpoint and a working method. Only by taking the people as the subject of understanding, the subject of practice, and the subject of value can one obtain a broad field of vision, a reliable yardstick, and profound strength. Guanzi, "Shepherding the People" (《管子·牧民》), says: "What makes government flourish is following the people's hearts; what makes government fail is going against the people's hearts." Zheng Banqiao (郑板桥) wrote: "Lying in the yamen study, listening to the soughing bamboo, I suspect it is the sound of the people's suffering." Though the people's voices are faint, they are connected with the national economy and the people's livelihood; though the people's sentiments are slight, they mirror the quality of governance. If one looks at development only from report forms, listens to public opinion only from work reports, and seeks experience only from documents, one will easily mistake the "average" for the "majority" and the "typical potted landscape" for the "overall scenery." The people's standpoint is not an abstract concept but a way of understanding and a working method. Only by taking as the yardstick whether the masses are satisfied or dissatisfied, whether they approve or disapprove, whether they are happy or not, can the coordinates of decision-making be calibrated and policies be kept from losing touch with public opinion and work from becoming misaligned with reality.
Open the door to understanding laws through investigation and research. Marx pointed out in Theses on Feuerbach that all social life is in essence practical. Laws are contained in practice, but they will not manifest themselves automatically. To arrive at essence from phenomena, grasp the general from the particular, and rise from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge, one must rely on investigation and research. Investigation and research are the foundation of planning affairs and the way to accomplish things. Without investigation, there is no right to speak, still less the right to decide. Investigation and research are the bridge connecting the subjective and the objective, decision-making and practice, and cadres and the masses. The virtue of investigation and research lies in "genuineness": one must be present in body and present in mind; one must look at achievements and also look for problems; one must listen to words that please the ear and also to words that jar the ear. If one is content with "riding around in a car and looking through the glass," following designed routes and listening to prepared briefings, what one sees is only a retouched reality. True investigation and research requires going to places where difficulties are many, complaints are concentrated, and work cannot open up a new situation: listen to the people's voices in the fields, see the real situation in factory workshops, ask about warmth and cold in community courtyards. The more soil clings to one's feet, the more confidence one's decisions carry. Investigation and research must put all the more effort into the character "research" (研). Investigation is not the piling up of materials; research is not the splicing together of viewpoints. One must both "dissect the sparrow" (解剖麻雀), discovering the general mechanism from typical cases, and "play the piano well" (弹好钢琴), distinguishing primary from secondary and urgent from nonurgent amid multiple contradictions; one must also place the part in the whole and set the present within the long historical cycle for consideration. Only after an analysis that is 由此及彼 (yóu cǐ jí bǐ - "from this to that," to proceed from one thing to another), 由表及里 (yóu biǎo jí lǐ - "from the surface to the interior," to go beyond outward appearances), 去粗取精 (qù cū qǔ jīng - "discard the coarse and select the refined," to distill the essential), and 去伪存真 (qù wěi cún zhēn - "discard the false and preserve the true," to sift truth from falsehood) can scattered experience be elevated into an understanding of laws and grassroots creativity be transformed into institutional achievements.
Through learning, thinking, practicing, and comprehending, increase the ability to solve problems. "What is obtained from paper is ultimately shallow; to know a matter thoroughly, one must personally practice it." Facing new situations and new problems, mechanically copying old experience will not do, and mechanically applying ready-made answers will not do either. The more contradictions are interwoven and the more arduous the tasks, the more leading cadres must personally enter the arena, train in the midst of affairs, temper themselves at difficult points, and, in solving difficult problems, raise their level of understanding and their ability to take charge. Seeking knowledge from practice does not mean slighting theory. Theory is the "telescope" and "microscope" for observing the world. Leading cadres must read both the Marxist classics, this "book with words," and social practice, this "book without words," turning knowledge into insight, insight into courage and judgment, and turning theoretical principles into methods for solving problems. Without theoretical guidance, practice easily sinks into routinism; without the support of reality, theory may again become empty dogma. Leadership competence is precisely enhanced in the two-way surge of theory and practice. Practice can produce genuine knowledge, but experience will not automatically rise to rational knowledge. Going through the same matter, some people grow in ability, while others merely repeat yesterday; the key lies in timely review and deep reflection, turning "having done it" into "understanding it." Distill experience from success, and also discover boundaries from mistakes; look at direct effects, and also assess long-term impact; have both the decisiveness of "changing now" and the planning of "establishing for the long term." Leadership competence is embodied in respecting laws without 墨守成规 (mò shǒu chéng guī - "hold fast to established rules," to cling to old conventions), daring to assume responsibility without acting blindly and rashly, and acting vigorously without 急功近利 (jí gōng jìn lì - "hasty merit and immediate profit," to seek quick success and instant gain). Coming from the masses and going to the masses is the complete chain of deepening understanding. "Coming from the masses" means pooling their opinions, distilling their experience, and forming policy propositions that conform to reality; "going to the masses" means turning the Party's correct propositions into the masses' conscious action and testing and improving them in practice. Leadership is not doing everything in place of the masses, still less standing above the masses and 发号施令 (fā hào shī lìng - "issue orders and commands"), but pooling the wisdom of the masses, gathering the strength of the masses, and organizing the masses in struggle. The "golden ideas" for solving difficult problems often grow on the front lines of production and life.
Manifest leadership competence in bringing well-being to the people. Leadership competence is embodied both in the ability to understand laws and solve difficult problems and in the value pursuit of being wholeheartedly devoted to the people and bringing well-being to the masses. The prestige of leading cadres is not conferred by position or sustained by power, but is accumulated through doing practical things for the masses and solving difficult problems for them. The Analects, "Zilu" (《论语·子路》), says: "When one is upright in person, one is followed even without issuing orders; when one is not upright in person, one is not obeyed even if orders are issued." When the masses evaluate a cadre, they look at what has been said and, even more, at what has been accomplished; they look at how one behaves at a given moment and, even more, at whether one holds fast over the long term. Bringing well-being to the people must ultimately be implemented in concrete actions and actual results. Employment, education, medical care, elderly care, housing, ecology, and so on appear to be the daily trifles of each family and household, but in reality they are connected to the people's livelihood and well-being and to the overall situation of governance. Leading cadres must regard the masses' "small matters" as their own "major matters," persist in 尽力而为 (jìn lì ér wéi - "do with all one's strength," to do one's utmost) and 量力而行 (liàng lì ér xíng - "act according to one's strength," to act within one's means), handle matters one after another, and work year after year. For every practical matter accomplished, a measure of trust is added; for every difficult problem resolved, a measure of strength is gathered. The quality of leadership competence must, in the final analysis, be tested by the masses' sense of gain, sense of happiness, and sense of security.
Return to TopBy: 上海市政协主席胡文容
At the conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed the need to "perfect the mechanisms for in-depth consultation and interaction, full expression of opinions, and extensive consensus-building; refine the working rules for consultation; promote the full expression and in-depth exchange of different ideas and viewpoints; and truly, through consultation, produce methods, produce consensus, produce goodwill, and produce unity," providing the fundamental guidance for the CPPCC to deepen the innovative practice of consultative democracy. In-depth consultation and interaction, full expression of opinions, and extensive consensus-building are closely linked and 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each shines more brightly in the other's company," mutually reinforcing); they are organically unified throughout the whole process of consultative democracy and together constitute the operational mechanism of the special consultative body, ultimately achieving the goal that promoting democracy and enhancing unity are mutually integrated and that offering suggestions for governance and building consensus exert force in both directions. The Shanghai Municipal Party Committee (上海市委) thoroughly implements General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on strengthening and improving the work of the CPPCC, always incorporates CPPCC work into the overall municipal work situation for unified planning, unified deployment, and unified advancement, and has put forward clear requirements for giving play to the role of the CPPCC as a special consultative body. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC (上海市政协) earnestly implements the deployment requirements of the Party Central Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, bases itself on strengthening the effectiveness of the special consultative body in performing its duties and better serving the writing of Shanghai's chapter of Chinese modernization, deeply practices the major concept of whole-process people's democracy (全过程人民民主), upholds the organic integration of Party leadership, the united front, and consultative democracy, strives to make consultation and interaction more in-depth, expression of opinions more sufficient, and consensus-building more extensive, and better contributes wisdom and strength to Shanghai's full play of its role of taking the lead, driving development, and setting examples in advancing Chinese modernization.
Improve the mechanism for in-depth consultation and interaction, and strive to pool the wisdom of the people in expanding all-round consultation and deliberation
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Consultation must be genuine consultation; genuine consultation means consulting before and during decision-making, deciding and adjusting our decisions and work according to the opinions and suggestions of all sides, providing institutional guarantees for the implementation of consultation outcomes, and making our decisions and work better conform to the will of the people and accord with reality." Consultation is the primary responsibility and main business of the CPPCC. Promoting broad unity, advancing multi-party cooperation, and practicing people's democracy through consultation is a fine tradition that the CPPCC has 一以贯之 (yī yǐ guàn zhī - "thread through with one consistent thread," consistently and unswervingly) upheld. On the new journey of the new era, the CPPCC should, based on its functional orientation, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, further improve the mechanism for in-depth consultation and interaction, focus on solving key issues such as what to consult on, with whom to consult, how to consult, and how to apply the outcomes of consultation, and continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of offering suggestions for governance and serving the overall situation.
Insist on the integrated planning of improving consultation content and enriching consultation forms, ensuring that the topics of in-depth consultation and interaction are precise and the platforms are diverse. Only by conducting extensive consultation through various channels, various routes, and various ways on major issues of reform, development, and stability, especially issues concerning the vital interests of the people, can the CPPCC serve high-quality development with high-quality suggestions. This requires the CPPCC, on the one hand, to improve the content of consultation, anchoring on what the Party and the government need, what the masses expect, and what the CPPCC can do, focusing on key, difficult, and hot issues in advancing Chinese modernization, further deepening reform comprehensively, promoting high-quality development, and maintaining social harmony and stability, and to clarify the direction of consultation and determine consultation topics; and, on the other hand, to enrich the forms of consultation, further improve the consultation and deliberation pattern with the plenary session as the leading part, with special consultative sessions of the Standing Committee and special consultation meetings as the key parts, and with consultation symposiums, counterpart consultation meetings, and proposal-handling consultation meetings as the regular parts, and actively explore the coordination and cooperation between CPPCC consultation and other forms of consultation, striving to build a multi-level, three-dimensional consultation platform system. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC plans and promotes its duty performance closely around the deployment requirements of the Municipal Party Committee, upholds the mechanism of soliciting topics from all political parties and organizations, CPPCC members, and the people of all sectors (界别), focuses on key areas of Shanghai's modernization to determine duty-performance topics, and ensures that the CPPCC's duty performance resonates at the same frequency and exerts force in the same direction with the overall situation of the whole city. While strengthening the building of key consultation platforms, it relies on CPPCC member workstations, studios for members of sectors, and members' contact points for linking with and serving the masses to organize members to go deep into the grassroots and conduct in-depth consultation on key small matters such as adding elevators, elderly care services, and pocket park construction, helping the grassroots society stimulate governance vitality, optimize governance methods, and improve governance effectiveness.
Insist on simultaneously advancing the improvement of consultation rules and the cultivation of a consultative democracy culture, ensuring that the procedures of in-depth consultation and interaction are scientific and the atmosphere is rich. Institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization are the inevitable requirements of the development of consultative democracy. It is necessary to follow the principles of being scientific and reasonable, standardized and orderly, simple and easy to implement, and democratic and centralized, and to form institutional norms and working rules for different consultation channels; in particular, consultation and interaction should be made a necessary link, with provisions on the scope of participation, principles of discussion, basic procedures, and ways of communication, so as to ensure in-depth consultation and full interaction. At the same time, in-depth consultation and interaction cannot be separated from the profound nourishment of a consultative democracy culture. It is necessary to extensively advocate consulting more when there are matters, consulting more when matters arise, and consulting more when doing things, actively cultivate a consultative democracy culture with distinctive CPPCC characteristics, and promote CPPCC consultation with give-and-take, sound interaction, and layer-by-layer deepening, so as to achieve equal consultation without imposing one's views on others, orderly consultation without each speaking only for oneself, and sincere consultation without being extreme or stubborn, and form a sound consultation atmosphere in which people both 畅所欲言 (chàng suǒ yù yán - "speak freely whatever one wishes," speak one's mind without reserve) and 各抒己见 (gè shū jǐ jiàn - "each expresses one's own views," everyone airs their own opinions), while remaining rational and measured, lawful and rule-abiding. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC strives to optimize the procedures of consultation and interaction; in particular, it has added links for members to ask questions and for departments to give replies in the special supervisory sessions of the Standing Committee, effectively demonstrating the characteristics and advantages of consultative supervision. At the same time, it organizes CPPCC members and government departments, stakeholders, and the people of all sectors to focus on problems, engage in equal dialogue, and conduct in-depth exchanges, cultivating a culture of consultation in the process of helping solve practical problems. For example, focusing on continuously helping the iterative upgrading of the "Community Baby House" (社区宝宝屋) in Jiangning Road Subdistrict (江宁路街道), Jing'an District (静安区), at the community grassroots, it organized expert members to coordinate with functional departments, operating institutions, and resident families, built a normalized, face-to-face communication and consultation platform, formed a closed-loop process of "public-opinion response—consultation advancement—supervision for implementation—feedback for optimization," and promoted the building of a "community of good governance" (善治共同体) model with the government taking the lead, society coordinating, and families participating, making "when matters arise, it is good to discuss them" (有事好商量) 蔚然成风 (wèi rán chéng fēng - "grow luxuriantly into a prevailing custom," become widespread common practice) at the community and grassroots level.
Insist on mutual reinforcement between enhancing consultation capability and improving consultation effectiveness, ensuring that the methods of in-depth consultation and interaction are scientific and the outcomes are implemented. Only by understanding the CPPCC, being adept at consultation, and being good at deliberating can one consult genuinely, consult deeply, and consult substantively. This requires the CPPCC to improve its learning and training mechanisms, and promote the broad body of members to be diligent in learning and good at research, grasp the principles and policies of the Party and the state, comprehend the essence of consultation, master the methods of consultation, and enhance the capability of consultation, striving to perceive the changes of the situation, recognize the crux of problems, and devise workable measures. Landing and implementing the outcomes of consultation is an important criterion for measuring the quality and effectiveness of consultation. It is necessary to improve the mechanism for the adoption, implementation, and feedback of consultation outcomes, strengthen communication and contact with Party committees and governments, track and understand the progress of the adoption and implementation of consultation outcomes, and provide timely feedback to those who put forward suggestions, so as to do well the "second half of the article" on consultation. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC continuously improves the member training mechanism, carries out training for all municipal and district CPPCC members at the start of their terms, and holds a series of special training classes on "improving members' capability to perform their duties," promoting the broad body of members to continuously improve their level of ideological understanding and their ability to perform duties. At the same time, it insists on running consultative democracy through the entire process of proposal work, and promotes the improvement of the mechanism for leading members of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government to take the lead in coordinating the handling of proposals, the mechanism for members of the Chairmen's Meeting of the CPPCC Shanghai Municipal Committee to take the lead in supervising the handling of key proposals, the mechanism for the coordinated advancement of the handling of key proposals, and the mechanism for the regular analysis and evaluation of proposal handling, effectively promoting the transformation and implementation of proposals and suggestions.
Improve the mechanism for full expression of opinions, and strive to pool the will of the people in improving whole-chain orderly participation
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the CPPCC should "enrich democratic forms, smooth democratic channels, effectively organize all political parties, all organizations, all ethnic groups, all social strata, and personages from all walks of life to jointly discuss state affairs, and promote the realization of extensive and effective people's democracy." Democracy originates from the full expression of the people's will and is realized in the effective realization of the people's will. As an important form of practicing whole-process people's democracy, the CPPCC must implement the requirement that all decisions and deployments involving the vital interests of the masses must fully listen to the opinions of the masses, and, through extensively adopting the words of the people, extensively gathering the wisdom of the people, and extensively seeking good measures, guarantee the right of the masses to broad, sustained, and in-depth participation in daily political life, and promote Chinese-style democracy to show even more vigorous vitality.
Fully bring into play the advantage of the sectors' extensive contacts, and promptly reflect the demands of the masses from all walks of life. Sectors are the units set up in the organizational structure of the CPPCC; every sector is a democratic channel connecting the people of that sector. It is necessary to proactively adapt to the changes in economic and social development and in the internal structure of the united front, deeply study the ideas and methods for better bringing into play the role of CPPCC sectors, expand the scope of unity, strengthen inclusiveness, expand the space for orderly political participation, and promote all sectors to base themselves on their own fields, give play to their comparative advantages, and enhance the vitality of their duty performance, so that, in better connecting with the people of their sectors, conducting in-depth investigation and research, reflecting social conditions and public opinion, deepening consultation and discussion, and putting forward opinions and suggestions, the overall advantages of the CPPCC organization are effectively transformed into the duty-performing effectiveness of all sectors displaying their respective strengths. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC has carried out a series of beneficial explorations in this regard. For example, it formulated implementation opinions on giving play to the role of sectors, improved the mechanism for supporting all democratic parties and personages without party affiliation in better performing their duties in the CPPCC, perfected the mechanism for special committees to separately contact all sectors, gave play to the coordinating and promoting role of the Work Committee for Sectors and Regions, ensured that speeches by sectors account for an appropriate proportion at important consultation meetings, promoted all sectors to put forward high-quality collective proposals on the basis of in-depth research, and organized the establishment of studios for members of sectors, effectively ensuring that the opinions and suggestions of the masses from all walks of life are reflected in a timely manner.
Fully bring into play the advantage of the CPPCC's consultation platform, and extensively solicit opinions from the masses from all walks of life. As an important channel of socialist consultative democracy and the special consultative body, the CPPCC upholds the philosophy that when matters arise, it is good to discuss them, and the affairs of the many are discussed by the many, providing an institutionalized platform for all political parties and organizations and personages of all ethnic groups and all walks of life to participate in politics and express interests in an orderly manner; it is conducive to promoting scientific decision-making and effective policy implementation, and plays an irreplaceable role in improving the effectiveness of national governance. In the practice of performing duties, it is necessary to take the satisfaction of the masses as the value orientation for doing work well, ensure that the direction of duty performance is determined according to the opinions of the masses, duty-performance topics are adjusted according to the opinions of the masses, and duty-performance outcomes are improved in light of the opinions of the masses, and, through forms such as inviting representatives of the people of all sectors to participate in relevant CPPCC consultation meetings, research and inspection activities, and democratic supervision work, and inviting stakeholders to participate in special consultations, expand the channels for orderly participation, making the CPPCC truly an institutionalized platform for the masses from all walks of life to express their opinions. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC focuses on asking the people about their needs, asking the people for their advice, and asking the people about the results, strives to improve the mechanism for inviting the people of all sectors to participate in duty-performing activities and soliciting opinions and suggestions from the people of all sectors, and effectively promotes the smooth transmission of demands from all walks of life to Party committees and governments. For example, in order to precisely offer suggestions for scientifically planning the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五规划), it extensively carried out activities such as "I Offer an Idea for the Compilation of the '15th Five-Year Plan'" (我为编制"十五五"规划献一计). On this basis, centering on the topic of "Basing on the overall situation of modernization, compile Shanghai's 15th Five-Year Plan with high quality," it convened a special consultative session of the Standing Committee, actively contributing the CPPCC's wisdom. Centering on stabilizing economic growth, members of the Chairmen's Meeting of the CPPCC Shanghai Municipal Committee respectively led research groups, focused on key fields such as high-end manufacturing and foreign investment and trade, visited and surveyed enterprises, listened deeply to opinions and suggestions, promptly reflected them to Party committees and governments, and promoted the resolution of related problems.
Fully bring into play the direct-express advantage of social conditions and public opinion, and accurately convey the voices of the masses from all walks of life. The work of reflecting information on social conditions and public opinion is connected at one end to the people of all sectors and at the other end to Party committees and governments; it is an important way of practicing the Party's mass line in the new era, and is of great significance for assisting Party committees and governments in listening to the voice of the people, understanding the conditions of the people, resolving the concerns of the people, and warming the hearts of the people. It is necessary to strive to improve the whole-process mechanism for collecting, editing, verifying, reviewing, and reporting information on social conditions and public opinion, promote all units participating in the CPPCC, all special committees, and all CPPCC members to proactively go down and extend the tentacles of duty performance, 广开言路 (guǎng kāi yán lù - "open wide the road for speech," give full scope to the airing of views) to smooth the channels for the expression of public opinion, deeply grasp the livelihood issues about which the masses feel strongly, deeply understand the governance difficulties affecting social harmony, and deeply collect opinions and suggestions for promoting reform and development; strive to transform scattered public-opinion demands into concrete good measures and effective moves, turn the masses' "problem list" into members' "duty list," and let the masses from all walks of life personally feel that the CPPCC is very close to them and that members are right beside them. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC continuously improves the mechanism for reflecting social conditions and public opinion; in particular, it deepens the brand building of the "Direct Express for Suggestions on Social Conditions and Public Opinion" (社情民意建言直通车), innovatively launches the "Social Conditions and Public Opinion Face-to-Face" (社情民意面对面) consultation symposium, and, centering on key topics of Shanghai's urban governance and livelihood improvement such as the silver economy, sports consumption, and property management, organizes CPPCC members in relevant fields to conduct face-to-face, in-depth consultation with the people of all sectors and representatives of community residents, effectively building a complete closed loop of "extensive collection of public opinion—precise transformation of suggestions—timely feedback of outcomes," making the work on social conditions and public opinion more effective and practical.
Improve the mechanism for extensive consensus-building, and strive to pool the hearts of the people in achieving full-coverage unity among all sectors of society
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "人心向背 (rén xīn xiàng bèi - "whether people's hearts turn toward or away," popular support versus opposition) and the balance of strength are the key to deciding the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people; this is the greatest political issue." At present, the changes of the world, the changes of the times, and the changes of history are continuously extending in breadth and depth, and the tasks of China's reform, development, and stability are unprecedentedly arduous and heavy. This requires the CPPCC to improve the working mechanisms for giving play to the united front's political role of rallying people's hearts and pooling strength, do more work to strengthen confidence, gather the people's hearts, warm people's hearts, and build common aspirations, better shoulder the political responsibility of "implementing downward and rallying together" (落实下去、凝聚起来), further rally hearts and pool strength, continuously consolidate the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups across the country, and strengthen the great unity of Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad.
Guard well the political center of the circle, and consolidate the common ideological and political foundation. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most distinctive feature of the united front and the fundamental guarantee for the development and progress of the cause of the CPPCC. As a political organization led by the Party, the CPPCC must always take upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics as the main axis for consolidating the common ideological and political foundation, take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the general program governing all CPPCC work, continuously improve the institutional mechanisms for the Party's overall leadership over CPPCC work, optimize the learning system led by the study sessions of the Party Leadership Group's theoretical learning center group, improve the systems for integrating consensus-building into duty performance, for contacting members and conducting heart-to-heart talks, and for briefings on issues of key concern, and effectively transform the Party's will and propositions into the high consensus and conscious action of all political parties and organizations and personages of all ethnic groups and all walks of life. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC continuously improves the responsibility, organizational, and institutional systems for Party building in the CPPCC, implements the mechanism for members of the CPPCC Party Leadership Group, members of the Chairmen's Meeting, and directors of special committees to contact members, strictly implements the "First Agenda Item" system (第一议题), strictly implements the system of requesting instructions and reporting on major matters, carefully builds the unified learning platform of the "Pujiang Panorama Lecture Hall" (浦江纵横大讲堂), and ensures that the Party's leadership is implemented comprehensively, systematically, and holistically in all aspects and the entire process of CPPCC work.
Lengthen the radius of inclusiveness, and extensively build consensus among all sectors of society. Chinese modernization is the cause of all the Chinese people and requires the joint struggle of Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad. It is necessary to firmly grasp the requirements of the times for unity and struggle, continuously establish and improve the mechanism for giving play to the advantages of the new type of party system, the learning and practice mechanism for members of the ethnic-minority sectors and the religious sectors, the communication and contact mechanism with intellectuals outside the Party, non-public economic personages, and people from new social strata, and the mechanism for members to contact the people of their sectors, so as to pool mighty strength for building a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC stresses unity and values unity, and, through building effective platforms, strives to promote the concretization, normalization, and effectiveness of the consensus-building mechanism. For example, it implements the "Sunshine Nurturing" plan (阳光育人) to help minority-ethnic college students coming to Shanghai grow and become talents; runs well the project of "Great Love Warms Shanghai · Religious Charity in Action" (大爱暖申城·宗教慈善在行动) to support religious circles in carrying out public welfare and charity activities; holds the "Shanghai Study and Practice Program for Young Macao Talents" (澳门青年人才上海学习实践计划) to cultivate young talents who love the country and love Macao; and holds symposiums for overseas Chinese managers, special symposiums for Taiwan compatriots in Shanghai, and the "Overseas Chinese and Returnees Gathering" (侨海荟) salon, rallying hearts and strength at home and abroad.
Take the initiative to speak to the outside world, and tell well the story of Chinese people's democracy. Serving the overall situation of the country's foreign work and telling well to the world the story of China and the story of Chinese people's democracy is an important responsibility of the CPPCC. It is necessary to continuously give play to the principal role of members and take the initiative to make positive statements to the international community, promote the broad body of members, in foreign exchanges, to tell well, in terms easily accepted by the international community, Chinese stories that are closer to the ground, can gather popularity, and evoke resonance, and proactively carry out publicity for foreign nationals coming to China, helping expand the circle of friends who understand China and befriend China. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC fully relies on Shanghai's locational advantage of being at the forefront of reform and opening up, carefully organizes activities such as briefings for foreign nationals and "Foreign Nationals Walk into the CPPCC," and extensively and deeply befriends overseas friends. In particular, it innovatively established a practice site for whole-process people's democracy (全过程人民民主实践点), carefully built it into an important platform for carrying out consultative democracy and an important window for displaying the look of whole-process people's democracy, and invited foreign delegations, officials of consulates in Shanghai, representatives of friendship cities, winners of the Magnolia Award, representatives of chambers of commerce, international students, and others to visit the practice site, enhancing understanding and recognition of Chinese-style democracy. At the same time, relying on activities such as the "Taiwan Youth Chinese Culture Tour" (中华文化台青行) and "CPPCC Members Face-to-Face with Young Taiwan Compatriots and Taiwan Students" (政协委员与台青台生面对面), it invites young Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan students in Shanghai to walk into the CPPCC and into the practice site, deeply appreciate the institutional advantages and governance effectiveness of whole-process people's democracy, and continuously strengthen their identification with the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, and the great motherland.
Return to Top提问：戴奕 中邮科技股份有限公司副总经理
习近平总书记在省部级主要领导干部学习贯彻党的二十届四中全会精神专题研讨班上的讲话中指出，构建新发展格局必须畅通国内国际双循环。真正实现内外联通、互促共进，有很多问题需要深入研究。请问，我国企业走出去面临不少新问题，需要重点研究如何提高对外投资的科学性、安全性，如何加强海外利益保护。
解读：罗建波 中央党校（国家行政学院）国际战略研究院副院长、教授
随着我国经济不断转型升级，企业出海步伐显著加快，对外投资已由“可选项”变成“必选项”。但世界并不太平，大国关系复杂严峻，地区冲突和动荡频仍，国际规则正在加速重构，我国企业走出去面临不少新问题新挑战。习近平总书记指出，构建新发展格局必须畅通国内国际双循环。为此，需要重点研究如何提高对外投资的科学性、安全性，如何加强海外利益保护。这是构建新发展格局、实现高质量发展的必然要求。
当前全球产业链供应链加速重构，单边主义、保护主义抬头，国际经贸环境不确定性加剧，给我国企业出海带来严重不确定性。一方面，美国泛化国家安全概念，主动挑起新一轮对华贸易战科技战，对中资企业发起制裁和长臂管辖，显著提高了中资企业海外投融资的风险和成本。另一方面，美国主导推出“硅和平倡议”、“金库计划”，召开关键矿产部长级会议，抢抓全球关键国家、关键矿产、关键基础设施，构建排他性供应链俱乐部。美国布局中亚，重燃波斯湾战火，不断强势介入拉美事务，给中国与发展中国家团结合作带来新的不确定性。中美在“全球南方”的竞争显著加强，共建“一带一路”重点区域面临新的政治变数。
地区冲突和动荡频发已成常态，海外政治和安全风险不断上升。根据“2025年全球和平指数”（GPI）显示，2025年全球共计发生59起活跃武装冲突，创下自二战结束以来的最高纪录。2025年全球因军事暴力冲突死亡人数接近24万人，同比增长约23%。南亚、中东、非洲地区的战乱、暴乱、恐怖袭击多发，我国海外人员生命和财产安全受到直接威胁。一些发展中国家政权更迭频繁，外资政策、税收、采矿特许协议频繁变动，极易出现合同违规、许可撤销、国有化风险，政策稳定性难以预判。
国际规则加速重构，合规成本与经营壁垒大幅提高。一些发达国家逆全球化思潮抬头，不断强调“回岸、近岸、友岸”，极大削弱全球产业链供应链韧性，导致经济全球化在某些领域显著式微。不少发展中国家本土经济民族主义盛行，显著加大对矿产资源的行政管控，在技术转让、产业链本土化等方面提出过高要求。当前，绿色经济、数字经济成为新的对外投资重点，但各国在市场准入、产业标准、环保规范、质量认证等方面政策差异较大，急需加强标准和规则互联互通建设。
中资企业对外投资的科学性和安全性还需提高，我国海外利益保护能力亟待提升。部分中资企业偏重成本控制和收益测算，对东道国债务可持续、社会舆情、文化风俗、营商环境研判不够深入，为项目后续可持续发展埋下隐患。一些企业重签约落地、轻长期运营，属地化经营不足，本土化人才储备薄弱，与当地社区、工会沟通还不充分，容易引发舆情纠纷、劳资矛盾。不仅如此，我国海外综合服务保障能力还不强，在战略咨询、涉外金融服务、涉外法律服务、媒体海外传播、海外安保服务等方面仍有明显短板。国际军事合作有待拓展，战略投送能力相对有限，危机处置的应对手段相对单一。我国海外利益保护的体制机制、手段和能力还不足，亟待加快涉外安全保障体系和能力建设。
提高对外投资科学性和安全性
加强国别风险研判，全面优化境外投资的地区布局。继续深耕东南亚、中亚两大重点区域，加快布局中东非洲政府稳定、市场体量大、区域辐射广的国家和地区，审慎稳妥布局地缘冲突地区、政治不稳定国家、债务高风险国家，主动规避海外市场风险。通过对外投融资合作，携手发展中国家共同追求现代化，着眼巩固“全球南方”团结合作，不断扩大中国外交“朋友圈”。在欧美发达国家市场，前瞻预防东道国安全泛化可能带来的政治影响，建立健全风险对冲和应急预案。
强化政策引导，优化境外投资的导向清单。配合共建“一带一路”高质量发展，继续深耕基础设施互联互通，支持伙伴关系国家建设铁路、公路、港口码头、城际铁路、空港物流枢纽建设。稳步推进海外产业园建设和国际产能合作，推动伙伴关系国家绿色转型和数字经济发展，推动发展中国家提高产业发展能力，同时助推中国企业更大规模走出去。
敦促企业合规经营，履行好企业社会责任。“合规即安全”。《企业境外投资管理办法》《企业境外经营合规管理指引》《企业境外廉洁合规工作指引》均要求企业境外投资经营依法合规。加强在税务、环保、安全、用工等方面的合规管理，尊重属地规则和国际通行规则。建立反腐败合规管理预警机制，重点排查和管控涉及腐败、商业贿赂等行为。建立反制裁风险排查的长效机制，建立合作商准入的事先审查机制。境外中资企业要做好当地民生工程，处理好与当地员工、社区、政府、非政府组织的关系，增强东道国政府和人民对华友好感情。
打造中国标准和规则，提升在全球发展领域的话语权。发挥中国在高铁、核电、光伏、电网、航天、卫星等领域的技术优势，推动全产业链走出去，打造中国标准。以“高标准、可持续、惠民生”为目标，着力在清洁能源、数字经济等若干新兴领域打造中国标准和规则。发挥援外培训、鲁班工坊、技术研修班作用，通过技术援助、人力资源开发项目，为受援国培养工程师、监理、行业监管人员，传授中国工程技术规范。通过共建实验室、检测认证中心，帮助伙伴关系国家建立本土行业标准管理体系。加大与伙伴关系国家在法律、税收、海关、财务、贸易协定等规则、规制方面的软联通，增加在伙伴关系国家发展议程中的影响力和话语权。
提升海外综合服务保障能力，为企业出海保驾护航。2024年12月召开的中央经济工作会议明确提出完善海外综合服务体系，2025年10月商务部等五部门发布《关于进一步完善海外综合服务体系的指导意见》。当前，需要广泛吸纳和支持各类专业服务机构与金融机构参与对外投融资合作，支持咨询评估、金融服务、会计审计、信用评级、调解仲裁、知识产权等专业服务机构拓展海外服务网络，提高国际化服务能力和水平，为对外投资和海外项目提供高质量专业服务。
加强海外利益保护能力建设
在第四次“一带一路”建设工作座谈会上，习近平总书记明确指出，要“正确处理增强共建国家获得感和坚持于我有利的关系，切实保障我国海外利益安全”。一方面，共建“一带一路”要坚持正确义利观，在对外合作中做到义利兼顾，讲信义、重情义、扬正义、树道义。另一方面，坚持“以我为主”系统推进海外利益保护工作，制定中长期规划，丰富涉外工具箱。海外利益需要拓展，也需要维护。
在企业层面，增强安全防范意识，提高安全防范能力。企业走出国门之时，是自己第一安全责任人。要坚持一项原则，即危地不往、乱地不去、危业不投，主动规避海外安全风险。强化两项安全能力，一是加强风险感知和预警能力，二是完善安全防控方案。按照“谁派出，谁负责”“不培训，不派出”的要求，部署营地安防举措，定期组织安全培训和应急演练，提高员工面对恐怖袭击等风险的安全意识和应对能力。
在国家层面，加快涉外法治建设，完善海外利益安全的体制机制。习近平总书记强调，要按照急用先行原则，加强涉外领域立法，进一步完善反制裁、反干预、反“长臂管辖”法律法规，推动我国法域外适用的法律体系建设。秉持“大安全”“大应急”理念，建立事前、事中、事后的全周期安全管理，打造政府、市场、社会有机结合的海外利益保护模式，构筑中央地方、国内国际不同维度不同层面的力量体系，完善预警、应急、协调、服务、磋商等机制，探索一条具有中国特色的海外利益发展和保护之路。
在社会层面，海外利益保护既需要“自上而下”，也需要“自下而上”。社会力量是海外利益保护体系建设的有益补充和重要延伸，具有“触角”广泛、“身段”灵活、“行动”高效的特点。扶持有政治担当的安保企业“走出去”，推动出海安保企业更好地服务境外中资项目。鼓励有条件的社会组织走出国门，在实地调研、风险感知、对外传播、社区服务、民生福祉等领域多做工作，为我国企业境外经营创造有利环境。
在双边层面，推动与伙伴关系国家的安全合作，适度推进海外战略投送能力建设。一方面，鉴于国际形势动荡、恐怖主义频发的态势，继续推进与“一带一路”伙伴关系国家的双多边反恐合作、情报共享、警务合作、防务合作，以及预防自然灾害和传染病的国际合作，减少重大突发事件对我国海外利益的冲击。另一方面，当东道国发生严重的战争、内乱、暴恐袭击之时，适度动用军事力量撤侨和保护中国公民生命安全仍然十分必要。要适度推进海外保障基地建设，增强我国海外快速部署能力、后勤保障能力，同时积极参与海外维和行动、重点区域的护航行动，提高我国在全球安全治理领域的话语权和影响力。
Return to TopBy: 黄文胜
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Achievements are all made through hard work; only by doing real work can one truly deliver achievements and deliver true achievements.” This important statement profoundly reveals the intrinsic relationship between political achievements and practice. The view of political achievements is the “master switch” for officials in assuming office and performing duties, while practice is the foundation for the generation of a correct view of political achievements and the path to testing it. Accurately grasping the practical logic of the view of political achievements is of strong practical pertinence for guiding officials to deliver real achievements and seek real results.
Human subjectivity is a real subjectivity established on the basis of objective existence; only in the objectifying activity of two-way interaction between subject and object can humanity complete the real generation of its essence, and this process is fundamentally practice. Marx pointed out in Theses on Feuerbach that “the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it,” and that “man must prove the truth, i.e., the reality and power, the this-worldliness of his thinking in practice.” Lenin emphasized that ideas divorced from practice are merely subjective fantasies. Mao Zedong systematically expounded the law of cyclical ascent of practice, cognition, re-practice, and re-cognition in On Practice, engraving the principle that practice yields true knowledge into the Party’s theoretical genes. These classic expositions jointly point to one core: truth can only be generated, verified, and developed in the practice of changing the world. Likewise, political achievements are never subjective fabrications divorced from practice; they can only be the product of practice in changing the world.
Practice is not blind action, but a conscious activity that reveals and acquires truth, follows objective laws, and gives play to subjective initiative. When officials create political achievements, they must adhere to seeking truth from facts, conduct in-depth investigation and research, ascertain the actual situation, grasp the trends and laws, and on this basis make scientific decisions and work hard and in a down-to-earth manner. Once divorced from seeking truth from facts, so-called “political achievements” will degenerate into formalism and bureaucratism detached from reality, ultimately harming the interests of the masses and delaying the development of the cause. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that our Party “attaches importance to revealing and applying truth in the movement of social contradictions, and is good at testing and developing truth in practice.” This important statement makes clear that the political achievements of Chinese Communists can only be generated from practice, created by hard work, and tested by practical results.
China’s fine traditional culture has always valued hard work and practical results and upheld the unity of knowledge and action. Confucius advocated that “the gentleman desires to be slow in speech but quick in action,” opposing empty theorizing and boastful talk. Xunzi put forward that “though the path is near, it cannot be reached without walking; though the task is small, it cannot be accomplished without doing,” making practical work the precondition for accomplishing things. These ideological essences all contain the simple truth that practice yields true knowledge and real work yields real achievements, and profoundly reveal the dialectical unity of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements.
The practical wisdom of China’s fine traditional culture and the practical character of Marxist philosophy interpenetrate and complement each other. Both emphasize that empty talk divorced from actual action is meaningless; only by personally practicing and keeping feet on the ground can one accomplish something. This convergence across time and space provides a profound cultural nourishment for a correct view of political achievements. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized on many occasions: “Communists are materialists; being pragmatic is an essential character. We must seek truth from facts, be realistic and pragmatic, and do solid work.” Looking back at the Party’s struggle course of more than one hundred years, the fundamental purpose of “serving the people,” the ideological line of “seeking truth from facts,” and the fine work style of “being realistic and pragmatic and doing solid work” all run in the same vein as the spiritual cores upheld by China’s fine traditional culture, such as “opening things and completing tasks” 开物成务 (kāi wù chéng wù - "opening things and completing affairs," to grasp the laws of things and achieve success), “governing the world and applying learning to practical use” 经世致用 (jīng shì zhì yòng - "govern the age, apply to use," practical learning for solving real-world problems), “investigating things to extend knowledge” 格物致知 (gé wù zhì zhī - "investigate things, extend knowledge," to seek understanding through studying phenomena), and “unity of knowledge and action” 知行合一 (zhī xíng hé yī - "knowledge and action are one," the unity of knowing and doing). When officials establish a correct view of political achievements, they should consciously draw wisdom and strength from the Party’s theoretical innovation achievements in adhering to the “two combinations” (the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s fine traditional culture), and implement the “unity of knowledge and action” throughout the entire process of assuming office and performing duties, so as to be principled in understanding, substantive in speech, and effective in action.
To correct deviations in the view of political achievements, it is necessary to firmly grasp practice as the fundamental purpose. Adhere to proceeding from reality in everything, act in accordance with objective laws, take investigation and research as the basic skill of decision-making, and ensure that every policy can stand the test of practice. Strengthen the orientation toward solid work, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, adhere to high-quality development, and properly handle the dialectical relationship between visible achievements and latent achievements — we must both do practical things that allow the people to see, touch, and benefit from, and do good things that pave the way, build foundations, and benefit the long term for future generations. With the spiritual realm of “achievement need not be attributed to me” and the historical responsibility of “success must include me,” handle one matter after another and keep working year after year.
For discipline inspection and supervision work, it is necessary to embed supervision over the view of political achievements into daily supervision and inspection tours and patrols, closely focus on such problems as arbitrary action divorced from reality, lying flat and passing the buck with inaction, and flashy but fake action, and seriously pursue accountability and question those who engage in false political achievements and “digital political achievements,” forcing officials to focus their minds on practical matters that build foundations, benefit the long term, and improve people’s livelihood. The purpose of supervision is not to control people to death, but to make officials understand a simple truth: only political achievements made through real work are reliable, and only political achievements recognized by the masses can stand firm.
(The author is Executive Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Deputy Director of the Provincial Supervisory Commission)
Return to TopBy: 游志斌
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has consistently treated disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work as a major matter bearing on the safety of the people and the security of the state. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "adhere to putting the people first and life first, integrally enhance the capabilities of disaster mitigation and prevention, disaster-resistant fortification, and disaster relief support, and effectively reduce losses from various disasters and accidents." When presiding over the 25th collective study session of the 20th Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To do disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work well, it is necessary to uphold the Party's overall leadership, uphold putting the people first and life first, uphold respect for the laws of nature, uphold putting prevention first, uphold reform and innovation, uphold the systemic perspective, and uphold social co-governance." Grounded in the mission of the times of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, this important exposition provides scientific theory and fundamental guidance for doing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief work well in the new era.
Fully understand the extreme importance of integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
Integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities is a major task in the Party Central Committee's continuous deepening of its strategic plans for disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized "upholding the systemic perspective" and required "making overall arrangements for comprehensive rescue, transitional resettlement, and recovery and reconstruction," giving greater prominence to holistic response through system integration and full-process linkage.
Following the laws of disaster prevention and control is an inevitable requirement. Disaster losses are jointly determined by factors such as the hazardousness of disaster-causing agents, the exposure of people and assets, the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies, and response capability. In practice, territorial space management and control, hidden-danger investigation, monitoring and early warning, and evacuation to avoid danger can reduce risk exposure; engineering fortification, facility reinforcement, and redundant construction can reduce system vulnerability; and rescue and assistance, material transportation, and recovery and reconstruction can control the post-disaster expansion of losses. The absence or weakness of any one link will amplify the pressure on the other links. Insufficient prevention increases pressure on the response end; insufficient fortification makes it difficult for early warnings to translate into loss reduction; insufficient support obstructs post-disaster assistance and recovery. Conversely, high-level disaster prevention can substantially reduce disaster losses and even avoid harm; high-standard fortification can delay system failure and win time for rescue; and post-disaster investigation and review can reveal front-end deficiencies and create conditions for continued optimization. "Integrated enhancement" means systematically improving disaster management and control capability from a full-lifecycle perspective, through the coordinated application of all processes, all means, and all elements.
Responding to major disasters, catastrophic disasters, and risk complexes is a practical need. Major and catastrophic disasters often break through the boundaries of administrative regions, industrial sectors, and conventional resource allocation. For example, extreme rainstorms can simultaneously trigger mountain torrents, landslides, and urban waterlogging, causing traffic interruption and communications damage; strong earthquakes can bring building collapse, gas leakage, fire, and the crowding-out of medical resources. Traditional governance mostly allocates facilities and forces on the basis of history, whereas the governance of major and catastrophic disasters must pay attention to low-probability, high-loss-consequence scenarios. It is necessary to rationally set up safety redundancy, substitution modes, and backstop plans, and to make full preparations for the "three disruptions" (road disruption, network disruption, and power disruption), cross-regional reinforcement, and longer-term resettlement. "Integrated enhancement" means making overall plans from the global and long-term perspective, converting measures for responding to possible major risks into actions of planning, construction, and preparation, and responding to the uncertain consequences of major disaster risks with the certainty of capability enhancement.
Advancing the modernization of the national emergency management system and capabilities is the essential path. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has continuously advanced reforms of the systems and mechanisms for disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief. The national comprehensive fire and rescue teams (国家综合性消防救援队伍), national regional emergency rescue centers (国家区域应急救援中心), and specialized forces have been built at an accelerated pace, and the systems for disaster-resistant fortification, monitoring and early warning, material reserves, and disaster assistance have been continuously improved. In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the third meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (中央财经委员会) to study improving China's natural disaster prevention and control capabilities and, targeting key areas and weak links, explicitly proposed advancing the construction of nine key projects. In the long run, China's comprehensive disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities still face such problems as: catastrophic disaster response urgently needs to be strengthened; disaster information sharing and assessment urgently need to be improved; cross-regional coordination mechanisms are not smooth; specialized emergency rescue forces are insufficient; peacetime-emergency conversion of facilities is difficult; and urban-rural emergency capabilities are uneven. "Integrated enhancement" is precisely to solve the problems of fragmentation and weak linkage existing in current disaster management work that in turn affect overall governance effectiveness.
The basic connotation of integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
The essence of integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities is to improve system effectiveness in disaster governance through holistic design, system integration, and exerting force in the same direction. Viewed as a whole, vertically it connects all levels from the state down to the grassroots; horizontally it opens up the information and action chains of the departments of emergency management, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, water resources, meteorology, transport, energy, communications, and health; temporally it links prevention, preparedness, response, assistance, recovery, and reconstruction; and spatially it strengthens joint prevention and control across regions, river basins, and urban clusters.
Reduce the generation and accumulation of risks at the source through disaster mitigation and prevention. Disaster mitigation and prevention is the first gateway of disaster risk governance; its core is to identify, avoid, reduce, and transfer risks before a disaster, and its contents include updating the results of risk surveys, territorial space use control, risk assessment of major projects, hidden-danger treatment, monitoring and early warning, pre-disaster evacuation, and public education, among others. For risks that can be avoided through planning, one cannot place all hope on post-event emergency rescue and remedy; for hidden dangers that can be eliminated through routine work, one cannot delay until disaster-onset handling; for risks that are difficult to eliminate completely, personnel exposure should be reduced through early warning, contingency plans, and evacuation. The measurement of effectiveness must not only look at the number of inspections and the volume of information released, but should see whether disaster risks have substantively declined, whether early warnings have truly been converted into action, and whether people in dangerous areas can be evacuated in a timely manner.
Improve system safety and resilience through disaster-resistant fortification. Disaster-resistant fortification is the intermediate barrier linking prevention and rescue; its focus is on reducing the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies through engineering and non-engineering measures. It is necessary both to raise the fortification standards of critical infrastructure in key cities and disaster-prone areas, advance the reinforcement of housing, embankments, reservoirs, bridges and tunnels, gas pipeline networks, and power and communications facilities, and build shelters and emergency passages, and also to improve the rules for operation and maintenance, emergency conversion, and cross-system linkage. Modern fortification must not merely pursue "no major damage" to facilities; it must also value the maintenance of functions after impact, rapid and effective substitution, and recovery at the earliest opportunity. Systems such as power supply, communications, transport, and logistics should have backstop means. Key places such as hospitals, schools, and elderly-care institutions should have the conditions for sustained operation and rapid evacuation, so as to prevent the failure of a single node from triggering systemic faults and a single disaster from evolving into cascading disaster accidents.
Effectively support disaster handling and rescue and support recovery and reconstruction through disaster relief support. Prevention and fortification cannot eliminate all risks; disaster relief support is an irreplaceable backstop capability. Its scope includes not only unified command, professional rescue, medical treatment, emergency communications, and material delivery, but also basic living assistance, care for groups with special difficulties, sanitation and epidemic prevention, transitional resettlement, and recovery and reconstruction. The goal is not merely "emergency personnel on the scene," but to ensure that under the most unfavorable conditions the command chain remains unbroken, the rescue chain remains effective, the material chain remains unimpeded, and the bottom line of people's livelihood is held. Force composition, reserve layout, transport agreements, requisition compensation, and cross-regional reinforcement mechanisms must all be clarified before a disaster and be tested through practical exercises. Post-disaster reconstruction should then optimize site selection and raise standards in light of the exposed problems, prevent risks from accumulating and amplifying, and reserve space for future disaster response.
Main challenges faced in integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
At present, China's comprehensive disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities have significantly increased, but it still faces prominent problems such as lagging risk awareness, unsmooth cross-departmental coordination, uneven urban-rural fortification, weak linkage between early warning and action, and insufficient grassroots and all-factor support.
The existing disaster governance cognition does not match the demands of risk governance capability. Some risk assessments still take historical disaster conditions and a single disaster type as the main basis, with insufficient consideration of extreme events, disaster chains, interdependence of infrastructure, and dynamic population exposure. If the results of risk surveys lack routine updating, they can easily become a "static base ledger"; if planning and contingency plans do not conduct targeted scenario deduction, it is also difficult to identify the upper limit of system carrying capacity. For example, the release of early warning information does not fit with grassroots response actions. Although monitoring precision is continuously improving, "warning issued" is not equal to "information delivered," and "information delivered" is not equal to "the masses acting correctly." It is urgent to open up the "last kilometer" and establish an institutional chain from technical signals to organizational action and public behavior.
The segmentation between vertical functional lines and horizontal territorial blocks (条块分割) does not adapt to the requirements of cross-departmental and cross-regional coordination. Disaster risks cross administrative and sectoral boundaries, but risk data, engineering construction, warning release, emergency response, and post-disaster assistance may still be divided among different departments. In some places, phenomena exist such as inconsistent data standards, unclear authorization for sharing, and disconnection between consultative assessment and command action; the rules for unit interfaces, equipment communications, material dispatch, and expense settlement for cross-regional reinforcement are also not unified.
All-factor support and long-term investment do not adapt to the requirements of systematic construction. The benefits of prevention are often expressed as "losses that did not occur," which are less intuitive than rescue results, making it easy for tendencies to appear of valuing equipment over maintenance, valuing construction over training, and valuing short-term remediation over long-term governance. Some grassroots areas have insufficient professional personnel, the mechanisms for social forces to participate are imperfect, and household and community reserves are limited. Without stable investment, legal standards, talent, and evaluation incentives, individual projects and technologies can hardly be transformed into sustained capability.
The advancement path for integrally enhancing disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities
To integrally enhance disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities, it is necessary to uphold the Party's overall leadership, uphold the systemic perspective, carry the protection of life, the guarantee of basic livelihood, and the care for vulnerable people through the entire process, and establish a correct view of political achievements (政绩观) that values both post-disaster handling and recovery and routine disaster prevention and mitigation.
Lead the construction of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities with all-domain risk governance systems and mechanisms. Uphold the combination of unified command and division of responsibilities, the linkage of prevention and rescue, and the coordination of upper and lower levels, and clarify specialized, territorial, and collaborative responsibilities. Establishing unified systems for disaster risk identification, classification, management and control, and updating is the foundation of "integrated enhancement." Fully apply the results of the comprehensive natural disaster risk survey, form a dynamic checklist and a spatial "one map" (一张图) according to "risk point—responsible person—management and control measure—emergency resource," and bring disaster-causing factors, disaster-bearing bodies, vulnerable people, shelters, rescue forces, and material reserves into the same risk base map. Carry out multi-disaster comprehensive assessments for urban clusters, important river basins, energy bases, transport hubs, and major projects; study disaster chains and cross-regional impacts; and clarify the priority order of risk avoidance, engineering treatment, monitoring and early warning, and emergency preparedness. Establish a full-lifecycle disaster risk assessment mechanism for major projects. At the site-selection and project-approval stages, strengthen multi-department joint review to avoid adding major risks; at the construction stage, implement fortification standards and safety facility requirements; at the operation stage, carry out dynamic monitoring, hidden-danger treatment, and periodic assessment; and when renovation and expansion, changes of use, or changes in surrounding risks occur, conduct renewed demonstration. Establish a closed loop of "early warning—call-and-respond—feedback—response" (预警—叫应—反馈—响应), clarify the consultation, inspection, suspension of work and classes, traffic control, and evacuation-to-avoid-danger measures corresponding to different levels of warning, and ensure that responsibilities are assigned to posts and measures to individuals.
Consolidate the disaster-resistance foundation with safe and resilient urban and rural areas and dual-use peacetime-emergency facilities (平急两用). Carry the requirements of safety and resilience through territorial space planning and all kinds of construction planning; scientifically delimit key prevention and control areas for disaster risks; and strictly implement risk avoidance and use control. Rural areas should improve the disaster prevention and resistance standards of rural housing, strengthen the treatment of hidden dangers in mountain torrent and geological disaster danger zones, housing built on cut slopes, and roads, bridges, and culverts, and prevent the urban-rural capability gap from becoming a short board for overall safety. Advance the construction of dual-use peacetime-emergency public infrastructure, coordinate incremental construction with the revitalization of existing stock, and enable facilities such as tourist accommodation, medical services, warehousing and logistics, and public venues to have sustainable operation functions in peacetime and to be rapidly converted, during major emergencies, into spaces for isolation, treatment, resettlement, storage and transport, or command support. At the outset of construction, it is necessary to clarify conversion scenarios, activation authority, time requirements, personnel organization, material interfaces, and compensation mechanisms, and to test, through regular exercises, the conditions of water, electricity, communications, sanitation, accessibility, and transport connections.
Ensure effective linkage through whole-process institutional development. Centering on such fields as natural disaster prevention and control, emergency rescue teams, monitoring and early warning, materials and equipment, and investigation and assessment, accelerate the improvement of the systems of laws, regulations, and standards, and clarify the rights and obligations of governments at all levels, sectoral departments, enterprises and public institutions, and social actors at each stage of prevention, fortification, response, assistance, and reconstruction. Strengthen cross-regional coordinated legislation and standards alignment, and promote the unification of key institutions such as early warning information, force deployment, material requisition, facility conversion, and data sharing. Promptly conduct rule research on risks brought by new industries and new business forms, and avoid a vacuum in regulatory responsibility. Establish and improve the assessment and evaluation system for disaster governance, assessing not only the response speed and handling results after a disaster occurs, but also the magnitude of decline of major risks, the rate of meeting fortification standards, the conversion rate of early warnings into action, the availability rate of shelter facilities, the timeliness of material allocation, and the safety skills of the masses, and embodying "preventing well, losing little" as measurable governance performance.
Drive the continuous improvement and refinement of the system with a closed loop of review and evaluation. Every disaster, dangerous situation, and exercise should become an opportunity to test the system. Establish a review system covering monitoring and early warning, command and dispatch, engineering performance, team actions, material support, the evacuation of the masses, and information release, examining not only direct causes and responsibilities, but also deep-level problems such as planning, standards, institutions, and resource allocation. Rectification tasks should form checklists, with clarified responsibilities, time limits, and acceptance standards, and the results should be fed back into risk databases, construction planning, contingency plans, and training content. Improve the mid-term evaluation, summary evaluation, and third-party evaluation mechanisms for plan implementation, and promote the shift of evaluation from the quantity of inputs and activities to the effects of risk reduction and functional recovery. Conduct cross-regional and cross-industry comparisons of recurring problems, and promote the unified resolution of common short boards through standards and institutions. Through continuous review, realize the goal of "governing one risk, improving one category of mechanisms, and enhancing capability in one domain," and truly make "integrated enhancement" a dynamic iterative process.
[The author is Deputy Director of the Institute of Emergency Management, Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).]
Return to TopBy: 政协广西壮族自治区委员会党组
At the critical juncture of the opening and initial progress of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the Party Central Committee's decision to carry out learning education throughout the Party on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements has major and far-reaching significance. This learning education takes "building the Party for the public good, benefiting the people, making scientific decisions, and working in real earnest" as its overall requirements, constituting a highly condensed synthesis and concentrated embodiment of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, and profoundly elucidating the political stance, fundamental purpose, important yardstick, and practical orientation of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements. Establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a long-term task; we must persist with 久久为功 (jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - "long, long, achieve merit," to maintain sustained effort over time), continuously consolidating and expanding the achievements of the learning education. The Guangxi CPPCC (广西政协) adheres to running the overall requirements of the learning education through the entire process and all aspects of duty performance, accurately grasps the nature and functional positioning of the People's Political Consultative Conference, and answers the question of the view of political achievements with practical actions, widely pooling people's hearts, building consensus, gathering wisdom, and rallying strength for striving to write the Guangxi chapter of Chinese-style modernization.
Thoroughly implement the important requirement of "building the Party for the public good," and uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership over CPPCC work.
What plays a decisive role in establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is Party spirit. As a political organization led by the Communist Party of China, in establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, the CPPCC must take a 旗帜鲜明 (qí zhì xiān míng - "banner is bright and clear," to take a clear-cut, unequivocal stand) political stand, take the Party's banner as its banner, take the Party's direction as its direction, take the Party's will as its will, deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the "two establishments" (两个确立), and resolutely achieve the "two upholds" (两个维护).
The Guangxi CPPCC deeply understands the distinct political attributes of the CPPCC system and CPPCC organizations, thoroughly studies and implements the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important "July 1st" speech and Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building (习近平党建思想), adheres to the organic integration of Party leadership, the united front, and consultative democracy, and leads the high-quality development of the Guangxi CPPCC's cause with high-quality Party building. Build strong Party building work brands and fully leverage the role of political organizations. Improve and implement the institutional mechanisms for Party leadership over CPPCC work, and further improve the organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and executes with strength. Adhere to holding a forum on Party building work of the whole region's CPPCC every year, deeply create "Four Strengths" Party branches (四强党支部), promote the deep integration of Party building and duty performance, and better become an important front for upholding and strengthening the Party's leadership over all work. Build strong united-front work brands and fully leverage the role of pooling hearts and strength. Strictly implement the "first agenda item" system (第一议题制度), improve the mechanism that integrates regular study, systematic research, and theoretical elucidation of the Party's innovative theories, integrate ideological and political guidance into daily work and grasp it regularly, assist CPPCC National Committee members residing in Guangxi in delivering exchange speeches at the theoretical seminar of the General Office of the CPPCC National Committee and being rated as individuals with outstanding performance in annual theoretical research work, comprehensively complete the construction of cultural and historical archives of the three-level CPPCC of the autonomous region, cities, and counties, and better become an important platform for using the Party's innovative theories to unite, educate, and guide representatives of all ethnic groups and all sectors. Build strong consultative work brands and fully leverage the role of offering suggestions and proposals. Continue to improve the consultative and deliberative system with the plenary session of the CPPCC as its leading component, innovatively build platforms for dialogue, exchange, and sincere talks, carry out "Guizai Xieshang" (桂在协商) all-media consultation and "member economic salon · micro-consultation," do a good job of dispelling doubts and strengthening confidence, and better become an important channel for resolving contradictions and building consensus on a common ideological and political foundation.
Thoroughly implement the important requirement of "benefiting the people," and actively practice the concept of the CPPCC for the people.
Being deeply rooted in the people and always possessing a solid foundation is one of the excellent qualities of the Communist Party of China that no other political party or political force can match. Serving the people wholeheartedly is also an important premise and foundation for the Communist Party of China to be able to implement and develop consultative democracy. It is necessary to adhere to the CPPCC for the people, take continuously satisfying the people's needs for a better life and promoting the improvement of people's livelihood as the starting point and foothold of CPPCC duty performance, listen to the voices of the masses, reflect the wishes of the masses, and assist Party committees and governments in continuously enhancing the people's welfare.
The Guangxi CPPCC deeply understands that consultative democracy is an important embodiment of the Party's mass line in the political sphere, adheres to the people-centered development philosophy, goes deep into reality, deep into the grassroots, deep into the masses, continuously expands the practice of consultative democracy, seizes practical problems in the field of people's livelihood to do work well, and acts as a propagator of Party policies, a defender of the interests of the masses, and a promoter of social harmony. Do deeper work in promoting ethnic unity and progress. Adhere to taking forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as the main line, solidly carry out the CPPCC members' activity of "entering communities to promote the three exchanges" (进社区促三交), thoroughly publicize and implement the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, build 261 education bases for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, carry out a series of consultative activities around assisting the construction of the "five homes" (五个家园), grasp all work of forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation in visible, tangible, and effective ways, and promote people of all ethnic groups to cling together tightly like pomegranate seeds. Do more meticulous work in reflecting information on social conditions and public opinion. Further strengthen the construction of mechanisms for reflecting social conditions and public opinion, contacting the masses, and serving the people, accurately grasp the people's new expectations for a better life and the new characteristics of people's livelihood work under the new situation, closely focus on livelihood topics such as employment, elderly care, child care, medical care, and border governance, and use small entry points and multiple dimensions to ascertain the real situation, understand public opinion, and offer sincere advice for the Party committee and government of the autonomous region. Do solid work on members' duty performance of "serving the people." Deepen and expand the platforms and carriers of member action, enrich the content and methods of members contacting the people of their sectors and performing duties to "serve the people," continue to carry out the "three trips to the countryside" (三下乡) of culture, science and technology, and health, as well as activities such as donating funds to support education, technical guidance, and project assistance, and actively assist the Party committee and government of the autonomous region in concentrated rectification of the prominent problem of "new officials not settling old accounts" and in resolving historical contradictions. In the face of severe flood disasters, the Guangxi CPPCC quickly issued an initiative, guiding CPPCC organizations at all levels and CPPCC members throughout the region to donate 157 million yuan in funds and materials; members of the leadership group of the autonomous region CPPCC went deep into the front line to supervise and inspect 242 dangerous reservoirs and guide the rectification of 659 hidden dangers; CPPCC organizations in disaster-affected areas achieved "all members on the dikes, all members going down to the grassroots," letting the people truly feel that the CPPCC is very close to them and that members are right beside them.
Thoroughly implement the important requirement of "scientific decision-making," and closely focus on offering suggestions and proposals for advancing the Guangxi practice of Chinese-style modernization.
Scientific decision-making is an inevitable requirement of adhering to the Marxist worldview and methodology and a key path to practicing a correct view of political achievements. Whether a decision is scientific fundamentally depends on whether it is approved and supported by the people and whether it can withstand the test of practice and history. As a special consultative body, the CPPCC should, through the practice of consultative democracy, pool the genuine knowledge and deep insights of all parties, and lay a solid foundation of public opinion and society for scientific decision-making by Party committees and governments.
The Guangxi CPPCC deeply understands that centering on the central tasks and serving the overall situation is an important principle for the CPPCC to perform its functions, and adhering to focusing on the central tasks of the Party and the state in performing duties is where the CPPCC's responsibility, strengths, and value lie. Closely focus on offering suggestions and proposals for the Guangxi practice of Chinese-style modernization, adhere to seeking truth from facts, vigorously conduct investigations and research, truly get a clear picture of the situation, identify problems accurately, and put forward practical countermeasures, and serve scientific decision-making and effective policy implementation with high-quality research and consultation results. Strictly follow the systems and procedures for scientific decision-making. Democratic centralism is the fundamental organizational principle and leadership system of our Party and an important institutional guarantee for scientific decision-making. The Guangxi CPPCC strictly implements democratic centralism, improves the deliberation and decision-making procedures of leading bodies such as the Party group work rules, and through the method of democratic centralism, 广开言路 (guǎng kāi yán lù - "broadly open the path of speech," to encourage the free airing of views) and 博采众谋 (bó cǎi zhòng móu - "broadly gather the plans of the many," to pool collective wisdom), gives play to the functions of the united front organization, and promotes harmony in political party relations, ethnic relations, religious relations, class relations, and relations among compatriots at home and abroad. Focus on central work for in-depth research and consultation. Enhance the ability to use the Party's innovative theories to analyze problems and guide practice. Centering on Guangxi's "15th Five-Year Plan" strategic deployment, carry out 31 consultation, deliberation, and democratic supervision activities on key topics such as accelerating the building of an international cooperation highland for artificial intelligence facing ASEAN and promoting the high-quality development of the maritime economy. Implement the requirements of "deep, solid, detailed, accurate, and effective," organize in-depth research across special committees and across sectoral boundaries, adhere to the systems concept, correctly handle the relationships between stability and progress, establishment and abolition, the virtual and the real, the standard and the fundamental, and the near and the far, strive to observe changes in the situation, recognize the essentials of problems, and devise practical strategies, and put forward a number of forward-looking, targeted, and operable countermeasure suggestions. Give play to the advantages of consultative supervision, enhance the effectiveness of democratic supervision, and help the decisions and deployments of the Party committee and government of the autonomous region take root and produce results.
Thoroughly implement the important requirement of "working in real earnest," and strive to create a clean and upright political ecosystem conducive to undertaking work and pursuing achievements.
The spirit of practical work is an important manifestation of the advanced nature of a Marxist party and a fine tradition and style of the Party. Advancing on the new journey of the "15th Five-Year Plan," it is necessary to vigorously promote the fine style of advocating practical work and firmly grasping implementation, with a vigorous and promising mental state, more resolutely and forcefully implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, and solidly promote the transformation of the grand blueprint into a beautiful reality.
The Guangxi CPPCC deeply understands that working in real earnest is the "touchstone" for establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements. With the spiritual realm of "achievements need not necessarily be attributed to me" and the responsibility and commitment of "achievements must necessarily have my contribution," it comprehensively performs the functions of political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in the deliberation and administration of state affairs, better builds consensus, and various duty performance achievements received 82 written instructions from Party and government leaders of the autonomous region, effectively shouldering the political responsibility of "implementing downward and rallying together" with practical work and real achievements. Promote the integrated advancement of study, examination, and rectification by confronting real problems head-on with real determination. In accordance with the important requirement of "three conscientious and solid efforts" (三个认认真真、扎扎实实), connect the work of learning and discussion, identifying problems, rectification and governance, establishing rules and systems, and open-door education [into one integrated whole]. Dynamically update the list and ledger of identified problems, rectify item by item, and close out item by item. Adhere to combining "immediate rectification" with "long-term establishment," and a total of 23 institutional documents of the autonomous region CPPCC were formulated or revised and 3 were abolished, continuously improving the long-term mechanism for preventing deviations in the view of political achievements. Comprehensively strengthen the CPPCC's self-construction. Fully give play to the leadership role of the CPPCC Party group in setting the direction, managing the overall situation, and ensuring implementation, tighten the responsibility chain for comprehensive and strict Party governance, regularly carry out education on the view of political achievements, and guide Party members and cadres to always take responsibility and perform their duties with a correct view of political achievements. Consolidate and expand the achievements of the learning education, do a good job of the "look back" on the learning education, promote the institutionalized, standardized, procedural, and intelligent construction of the CPPCC, strive to build a team of CPPCC members who "understand the CPPCC, are good at consultation, and are skilled in deliberation, and who abide by discipline, stress rules, and value conduct" and a high-quality team of organ cadres, pool hearts and strength with fine conduct, work in real earnest, boost the spirit of undertaking work and pursuing achievements, and continuously create new achievements in high-quality development.
Return to TopGeneral Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the 24th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that "it is necessary to strengthen industrial coordination and promote the mutual enhancement of future industries, emerging industries, and traditional industries" (相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each attains its own brilliance," to complement each other so that both are enhanced)). Subsequently, the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan made systematic arrangements for "optimizing and upgrading traditional industries" and "cultivating and strengthening emerging industries and future industries." This provides the fundamental guideline for building a modern industrial system. Focusing on promoting the coordinated development of the three categories of industries, the High-end Think Tank edition of Study Times (学习时报) has launched an in-depth discussion.
Return to TopBy: 刘志彪
A modern industrial system is an organic whole. There is a profound internal connection among traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries; they are 相辅相成 (xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng - "mutually assist and mutually complete," to complement each other) and mutually reinforcing. Handling the relationship among the three bears on whether the Chinese economy can form comprehensive competitive advantages under new historical conditions, and whether the material and technological foundation for high-quality development is solid and reliable.
From the historical experience of global industrial evolution, every country faces the challenge of replacing old industries with new ones in the process of industrialization. When traditional industries have a solid foundation, emerging industries and future industries will have momentum for development; therefore, it is necessary to adhere to linked development and prevent advancing on a single front. Abandoning traditional industries too early may lead to hollowing out of industry; over-reliance on emerging industries may fall into the dilemma of weak growth due to a weak foundation and lack of application scenarios and demand; neglecting the layout of future industries will lose long-term competitive initiative. The essence of the coordinated development of the three industries (三业协同发展) lies in enabling the three industrial forms to exert comparative advantages and 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "mutually benefit and both shine," to bring out the best in each other) at their respective development stages, realize optimal allocation of resource factors in dynamic evolution, and ultimately form an industrial ecology of gradient development and mutual support.
At present, global industrial chains and supply chains are undergoing profound reshaping. Developed countries are accelerating strategic layouts in frontier fields one after another, trying to consolidate their own advantages through technological barriers and rule reconstruction. As a major manufacturing country, China owns the most complete industrial chain and industrial system and has the advantage of a super-large domestic market, which provides 得天独厚 (dé tiān dú hòu - "possessing uniquely favorable conditions from heaven," to enjoy exceptionally favorable conditions) and irreplaceable conditions for the coordinated development of the three industries. At the same time, it should be noted that the problem of China's industrial system being large but not strong still exists, and the situation in which key core technologies are 受制于人 (shòu zhì yú rén - "be restricted by others," to be under others' control) has not fundamentally changed. A very obvious "K-shaped divergence" (K型分化) has formed between the pattern of "strong supply and weak demand" appearing in some traditional industrial fields and the high growth of emerging pillar industries such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and high-end equipment. Against this background, promoting the coordinated development of the three industries is not only a practical need for responding to external challenges, but also a strategic measure for adjusting the industrial structure and seizing the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.
The connotation and standards of the coordinated development of the three industries. The coordinated development of the three industries means that, in a country's national economic system, traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries form an industrial development pattern with complementary functions and echelon advancement according to their own development laws and comparative advantages. The essence of coordination lies in "mutual benefit and mutual enhancement": each type of industry can play its due role in its own position while creating strong supporting conditions for the development of other industries.
The three types of industries assume different functions in the coordination system. Traditional industries are the essential foundation of the national economy, provide the main employment posts, are an important source of tax revenue, and are also important scenarios for the application of new technologies and the basic source of market demand. Emerging industries represent the main direction of industrial upgrading at the current stage. With a relatively high technological level, strong growth driving force, and relatively high value-added rate, they undertake the growth task of becoming "cash cows" for the national finance in the future. Future industries face frontier science and technology and potential demand, are in the exploratory period of technological breakthroughs and industrialization, and determine the country's position in future global competition. The relationship among the three is sequential in time. Only by dynamically handling the temporal succession of the three and the connectivity of their industrial linkages can the national economy achieve long-term stable and efficient development.
The main content of the coordinated development of the three industries involves at least the following dimensions. First, at the level of factor allocation, it requires reasonable flow and efficient combination of production factors such as capital, talent, technology, and data among the three types of industries, so that commodity and factor resources can automatically enter the industrial sectors with the highest marginal returns according to the efficiency principle, thereby realizing dynamic adjustment and optimization of the industrial structure. Second, at the level of the industrial chain, the upgrading of traditional industries provides application scenarios, market demand, and certain supporting capabilities for emerging industries; the growth and expansion of emerging industries drives the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries; and the forward-looking layout of future industries accumulates strength for the leap of the entire industrial chain. Third, at the level of industrial coordination, it is necessary to maintain the connection and coordination of industrial policies among various industrial links, avoiding resource misallocation caused by excessive tilt toward or insufficient support for one type of industry. Fourth, at the level of spatial layout, different regions should determine the development priorities and coordination modes of the three types of industries according to their own factor endowments and industrial bases, 因地制宜 (yīn dì zhì yí - "adjust measures to local conditions," to act according to circumstances).
It should be particularly pointed out that the coordinated development of the three industries is a dynamic evolutionary process, not a static joining of plates. With technological progress and market changes, today's future industries may grow into tomorrow's emerging industries, and today's emerging industries will also merge into the category of traditional industries after maturing. Such transformation and upgrading of industrial forms require the coordination mechanism itself to be adaptive and forward-looking. Only by grasping this dynamic characteristic can we avoid viewing industrial classification with a fixed eye and enable the policy framework to keep pace with the steps of industrial evolution.
Whether the coordinated development of the three industries is effective can be examined from multiple angles. First, structural rationality is a basic dimension, namely whether the proportions of the three types of industries in the national economy are compatible with their development stage, and whether any one type has contracted too quickly or expanded excessively. Second, the efficiency of interaction and transmission is equally critical: whether new technologies and new models can be smoothly transmitted from emerging and future industries to traditional industries, and whether market demand from traditional industries can effectively stimulate innovation investment in emerging industries—these will directly determine the actual effect of coordination. Finally, the smoothness of factor flow is also an important indicator, such as whether factors like capital, talent, and data can flow freely among the three types of industries, and whether there are institutional barriers hindering cross-industry allocation of factors. In addition, the degree of regional coordination and changes in long-term competitiveness deserve attention. The former focuses on whether different regions have formed industrial layouts that are distinctive and mutually supportive; the latter focuses on whether the coordinated development of the three industries ultimately translates into sustained improvement of total factor productivity and enhancement of international competitiveness.
Practice progress and basic problems of the coordinated development of the three industries. In recent years, China has made positive progress in the coordinated development of the three industries. The pace of transformation and upgrading of traditional industries has accelerated, and the digital and green transformation of manufacturing has achieved remarkable results. A large number of traditional manufacturing enterprises have gained new vitality through technological transformation. As of the end of 2025, the numerical control rate of key processes in enterprises in key industries under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部) reached 68.6%, and a batch of industrial 5G dedicated chips, modules, and terminal products were developed. Digital transformation is spreading from leading large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises. Emerging industries continue to grow. Global leading advantages have been formed in fields such as new-energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and power batteries, and the scale of industries such as new-generation information technology, biomedicine, and high-end equipment manufacturing is expanding rapidly. New-energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first in the world for many consecutive years, and the output of photovoltaic modules accounts for more than 70 percent of the global total. The layout of future industries is also accelerating. R&D investment in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum information, and biomanufacturing continues to increase, and some frontier technologies have achieved breakthrough progress.
While affirming the achievements, we must also clearly see the deep-seated problems existing in the current coordinated development of the three industries.
The tendency to simplistically label traditional industries warrants vigilance. In the process of developing new quality productive forces (新质生产力), some localities equate traditional industries with backward industries and adopt discriminatory practices in land supply, financing support, environmental protection standards, and other aspects. In fact, traditional industries contain a large amount of innovation space and upgrading potential. For example, industries such as textiles and apparel, food processing, and building materials and home furnishings can fully achieve high-value-added development through intelligent technological transformation and brand-based operation. Simply viewing traditional industries as production capacity to be eliminated not only does not conform to the laws of industrial evolution, but also shakes the foundation of the national economy.
The problem of homogeneous competition in emerging industries remains prominent. Many localities lack differentiated positioning when developing emerging industries and swarm to launch similar projects regardless of actual conditions. Taking new-energy vehicles and photovoltaics as examples, localities are racing to lay out similar production capacity, leading to overcapacity and "involution-style" competition (内卷式竞争) in some links. Such homogeneous competition consumes a large amount of resources, depresses industry profit margins, and is not conducive to forming industrial chain clusters with international competitiveness. The reasons behind this lie mainly in deficiencies in taxation and statistical systems, deviations in the orientation of local government assessments, and the long-standing inertia of using preferential policies to attract investment.
The transformation of scientific and technological achievements in future industries faces the difficulty of crossing the "Darwinian Sea" (达尔文之海). The "Darwinian Sea" refers to the "intermediate blank stage" that is difficult to cross in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. China has invested heavily in basic research and frontier technology fields, but the efficiency of transforming scientific research achievements needs to be improved. Future industries are in the exploratory period of technological routes and market demand, with high investment risk and long return cycles; market-based venture capital mechanisms and corresponding regulatory methods are not yet mature. The assessment and evaluation systems of universities and research institutes place too much emphasis on the number of papers and patents, providing insufficient incentives for the transformation of scientific research achievements. The capacity building of enterprises as innovation entities still needs to be strengthened; in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises have limited channels for obtaining innovation resources. The superimposition of these factors leaves some frontier technology achievements at the laboratory stage, making it difficult to form industrialized technological routes and business models.
The transmission mechanisms among the three types of industries are not yet smooth. The technology spillover effects of emerging industries have not yet fully benefited traditional industries. This is an important reason for the current "K-shaped divergence" trend in China's industrial structure between emerging industries and traditional industries. The flow of data factors between different industries still faces obstacles such as inconsistent standards and unclear rights. The flow of talent, especially senior talent, among the three types of industries still faces some structural and institutional contradictions that are difficult to overcome, such as high-end talent flow being constrained by the departmentalism of work units and regions, and traditional industries facing the dilemma of difficulties in recruiting and retaining talent. These problems reflect that the construction of connecting channels among the three types of industries is still in its infancy.
The causes of the above problems are multifaceted. From the perspective of systems and mechanisms, local governments have a strong tendency toward administrative intervention in industrial development, and the coordination and consistency of industrial policies are insufficient. From the perspective of the market environment, reforms for market-based allocation of factors have not yet been fully implemented, and the institutional costs of cross-industry flows of factors such as capital, talent, and data are relatively high. From the perspective of the innovation system, the depth and breadth of industry-university-research collaboration are insufficient, and the institutional and mechanism obstacles to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements have not been fundamentally removed. From the perspective of the development stage, China is in a critical period of transitioning from old to new growth drivers. The 此消彼长 (cǐ xiāo bǐ cháng - "one declines while the other grows," to rise and fall in alternation) among the three types of industries presents a "K-shaped divergence" trend, causing relatively obvious friction and pain in the short term between traditional industries and emerging and future industries.
Forming the competitive advantages of a modern industrial system conducive to the coordinated development of the three industries. To achieve the coordinated development of the three industries, alleviate the "K-shaped divergence" trend in industries and its side effects, systematic adjustments need to be made in the thinking and mechanisms of building a modern industrial system. The key lies in properly handling the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government, letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation while better leveraging the government's role in strategic guidance, rule-making, and the supply of public goods.
Constructing a strategic coordination mechanism for the echelon development of the three types of industries. The coordinated development of the three industries first requires a clear strategic framework to coordinate the development positioning of various industries. At the national level, the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan has already put forward an overall development plan covering the three types of industries, clarifying the functional positioning and key tasks of each type of industry at different development stages. This will effectively avoid policy fragmentation and inter-departmental coordination failure. In practice, the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries should be further incorporated into a policy perspective equally important as that for emerging and future industries, with sustained support in technological transformation, equipment renewal, and talent training. The cultivation of emerging industries should emphasize differentiated guidance, determine development priorities according to each locality's resource endowments and industrial base, and reduce low-level repeated construction. The layout of future industries should grasp the principle of being appropriately forward-looking. In fields where technological routes are not yet certain, it is necessary to maintain multiple paths and space for exploration, avoiding premature convergence on a single path and direction. At the regional level, different regions should be encouraged to explore models of coordinated development of the three industries with their own characteristics. The developed eastern regions can bear more of the function of cultivating future industries and high-end emerging industries, while the central and western regions can leverage their cost advantages and application-scenario advantages to develop characteristic emerging industries while undertaking the transfer of traditional industries. Such inter-regional industrial division of labor and coordination needs to be based on the construction of a unified national market, break down local protection and market segmentation, and allow factors to flow freely among regions.
Unblocking the flow of factors and technological transmission among the three types of industries. The core difficulty of the coordinated development of the three industries lies in opening up the connecting channels among the three types of industries. In terms of factor allocation, the cultivation of the data factor market should be accelerated, and unified rules for data property rights recognition and transaction circulation should be established, so that data, as a new type of production factor, can flow efficiently among the three types of industries. In terms of talent flow, the contradiction of coexisting talent loss in traditional industries and talent shortage in emerging industries can be alleviated by establishing cross-industry skill training and conversion mechanisms. Universities and vocational colleges should be encouraged to adjust their major offerings and training programs according to the actual needs of the three types of industries. In terms of capital allocation, financial institutions should be guided to develop financial products adapted to the different characteristics of the three types of industries. The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries needs stable medium- and long-term credit support; the growth of emerging industries needs the participation of venture capital and industrial funds; and the exploration of future industries needs the long-term companionship of patient capital. In terms of technological transmission, the technology diffusion function of chain-leader enterprises (链主企业) in the industrial chain should be brought into play. Enterprises in emerging industries, enterprises in future industries, and enterprises in traditional industries should be encouraged to establish mechanisms for technological cooperation and joint scenario building, and accelerate the penetration of advanced technologies into traditional industries through co-building laboratories, joint research, technology licensing, and other means. Government procurement policies can also play the role of demand guiding supply, giving appropriate incentives to traditional industry enterprises that adopt new domestic technologies and equipment.
Improving the industrial policy system adapted to the coordinated development of the three industries. The transformation of industrial policy is the institutional guarantee for promoting the coordinated development of the three industries. Industrial policy should be promoted to shift from selective support to functional guidance, and from focusing on one type of industry to coordinating all three types. Policy design should enhance consistency. The intensity of policy support for each type of industry should match its development stage and functional positioning, avoiding the distorting effect of 厚此薄彼 (hòu cǐ bó bǐ - "favor one and slight the other," treating unequally). In the field of traditional industries, the focus of policy should be on reducing the institutional costs of enterprises' technological transformation, simplifying approval processes, improving tax deduction policies for technological transformation investment, and supporting enterprises in adopting digital and green technologies. In the field of emerging industries, the policy focus should shift from granting subsidies to optimizing the environment, strengthening intellectual property protection, improving the construction of standards systems, and creating a fair and competitive market order. In the field of future industries, attention should be paid to long-term investment in basic research and inclusive and prudent regulatory innovation, such as adopting innovative methods like sandbox regulation to provide institutional space for the exploration of frontier technologies. It should also be emphasized that local governments play a key role in the coordinated development of the three industries. The assessment orientation that solely judges success by the quantity and scale of emerging industries should be changed, and the upgrading effectiveness of traditional industries and the innovation reserves of future industries should be included in the comprehensive evaluation system. Local governments should shift from directly selecting projects to cultivating the ecosystem, focusing their energy on infrastructure supporting facilities, public service supply, and business environment optimization, allowing the market to choose industrial directions and enterprise players. Special attention should be paid to avoiding the tendency of 急功近利 (jí gōng jìn lì - "eager for quick merit and immediate gain," being impatient for quick success) in industrial policy, leaving sufficient time windows for the upgrading of traditional industries and the cultivation of future industries. Each of the three types of industries has its own development laws and cyclical rhythm. Being 急于求成 (jí yú qiú chéng - "anxious to seek success," rushing for results) often brings exactly 适得其反 (shì dé qí fǎn - "just the opposite," to run counter to one's desire). Only by maintaining strategic resolve and policy continuity can the effects of the coordinated development of the three industries be gradually accumulated and released.
The coordinated development of the three industries is an inherent requirement for building a modern industrial system, and also a strategic choice for the Chinese economy to maintain competitive initiative in a complex international environment. Traditional industries are the foundation, emerging industries are the backbone, and future industries are the direction; 缺一不可 (quē yī bù kě - "not one can be missing," none is dispensable). Only by grasping the dialectical relationship among the three types of industries and seeking the optimal solution in dynamic balance can the industrial system of the Chinese economy become more complete, more resilient, and more competitive. From the perspective of international experience, countries that have successfully achieved industrial transformation have, 无一例外 (wú yī lì wài - "none is an exception," without exception), accelerated the cultivation of new growth drivers while preserving the advantages of traditional industries, and made forward-looking arrangements in frontier fields to seize the future high ground. Promoting the mutual enhancement of the three types of industries must ultimately be implemented in institutional construction and policy practice, and build a solid industrial foundation for high-quality development with systematic thinking and pragmatic actions.
The author is the Executive Dean of the Yangtze River Industrial Development Research Institute at Nanjing University (南京大学长江产业发展研究院).
Return to TopBy: 程俊杰
The modern industrial system is an organic whole constituted by the mutual relationships and internal connections among different industrial links, domains, and the like. Traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries are 相辅相成 (xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng - "mutually assist, mutually complete," to complement each other) and mutually reinforcing. It is necessary to strengthen coordinated linkage around transforming and upgrading traditional industries, cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, and laying out and building future industries, so as to ultimately promote the realization of an overall leap in the industrial system.
Strengthening coordination among the three industries is not only a need for smooth circulation of the industrial chain and the successive conversion of old and new growth drivers, but also helps promote industrial innovation and evolution and enhance systemic resilience. Traditional industries provide raw materials, components, and application scenarios for emerging and future industries, while emerging and future industries in turn feed back into the transformation of traditional industries. From the perspective of the industrial life cycle, the three categories of industries constitute an echelon for the continuous replacement of growth drivers. If one favors the new and slights the old, or simply 腾笼换鸟 (téng lóng huàn niǎo - "clear the cage, change the birds," to replace old industries with new ones), it is very likely to cause industrial ruptures and stalled growth. At present, with the innovative penetration of a new generation of general-purpose technologies such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology, the boundaries between different industries are increasingly blurred, and the dynamic evolution of industries increasingly depends on the cross-sectoral flow and recombination of knowledge, technology, and data. The "collapse" of any industry will block the channel for integrated innovation. For different regions, because factor and resource endowments differ, it is neither realistic nor reasonable for all localities to develop the same or similar industries; only by forming a sound mechanism for division of labor and collaboration can they achieve complementary advantages and reduce systemic risks. Therefore, traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries are not in a relationship of mutual substitution, but are the roots, trunk, and new branches of the same "industrial tree."
In recent years, China has highlighted the parallel development of the three industries, made tiered deployment of key tasks, and continuously improved policies and measures, achieving positive results. Traditional industries have continued to renew themselves. The "intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and networked connection" (智改数转网联) initiative has advanced in depth; the proportion of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide carrying out digital transformation is close to 90 percent, and equipment connected to key industrial Internet platforms has exceeded 100 million units (sets). The supply structure has climbed toward the mid-to-high end of the value chain; for example, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the output of high-performance chemical fibers and carbon fiber and its composite materials grew at an average annual rate of more than 40 percent. Prices in traditional industries such as steel and cement have rebounded noticeably, and traditional products have opened up new space in global markets. Emerging industries have continued to grow stronger. In 2025, the share of value added of China's high-tech manufacturing in the value added of industry above designated size rose to 17.1 percent; a cumulative total of 66 national-level strategic emerging industry clusters has been cultivated and formed, creating an industrial ecosystem in which leading enterprises take the lead and upstream and downstream supporting industries cluster together. A number of landmark products, such as new-energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and industrial robots, have achieved global leadership. The layout of future industries has gained momentum. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五规划纲要) lists quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications as key directions, and the scale to be added over the next 10 years is equivalent to creating another China high-tech industry. The country has built 63 provincial-level pilot zones for future industries (未来产业先导区), and the industrialization of frontier technologies has accelerated. For example, in 2025, China's shipments of humanoid robots reached about 14,400 units, accounting for more than half of the global total. The effects of the coordinated development of the three industries have initially emerged. Traditional industries have become the "mother body" and supply-chain base of emerging and future industries; the global leadership of new-energy vehicles and lithium batteries is precisely attributable to the deep upgrading of traditional industries such as steel and chemicals. The "AI+" (人工智能+) initiative has been expanded in depth, and the intelligent economy is achieving breakthroughs at an accelerated pace. Central enterprises and state-owned enterprises have taken the lead in opening up application scenarios, and the scenario-driven and patient-capital mechanisms are accelerating their integration.
But we must still note that there remain some deficiencies in the coordinated development of the three industries. In investment attraction and industrial planning, some localities 喜新厌旧 (xǐ xīn yàn jiù - "like the new, loathe the old," to favor the new over the old), equating traditional industries with low-end, low-efficiency industries and clearing them out, vying to chase hot tracks in emerging and future industries, and lacking regional coordination and differentiated layout. Other localities pay more attention to introducing head enterprises, laying out major projects, and building industrial parks, valuing manufacturing while slighting services, resulting in insufficient coordination and linkage between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. Industrial policies are still designed in accordance with the category-based management mindset of transforming traditional industries, strengthening emerging industries, and laying out future industries, lacking systematic advancement mechanisms and integrated policies that encourage the integrated development of large, medium, and small enterprises. These practices run counter to building a modern industrial system and must be corrected in a timely manner, so as to effectively promote the coordinated linkage of the three industries.
Correcting cognitive bias is the first step. By publicizing and promoting successful cases of "old trees putting forth new buds" among traditional industries, we should accelerate the breaking of the fixed mindset that traditional industries equal backwardness and that emerging and future industries equal advancement. In particular, anchoring to the strategic goal of the overall leap of the industrial system, we should fully recognize that traditional industries bear the functions of employment, tax revenue, industrial stability, and the economic fundamentals. In fact, compared with 另起炉灶 (lìng qǐ lú zào - "set up another stove," to start from scratch) and investing in emerging and future industries for which one has no foundation, transforming and upgrading local traditional industries with comparative advantages entails smaller risks and delivers results faster. It is necessary to persist in putting ideas first and push all localities to base their industrial choices on their own resource endowments and comparative advantages, rather than simply benchmarking against advanced regions and "copying homework."
Improve chain-leader governance, support chain-leader enterprises (链主企业) in playing their dominant role in the ecosystem, and, by taking the lead in forming industrial communities and innovation consortia, putting an end to vertical involution in the industrial chain, and the like, drive the integrated development of upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, take application scenarios as the key bond connecting technology supply and market demand; centering on the upgrading of traditional industries, the strengthening of emerging industries, and the cultivation of future industries, continuously improve the scenario-innovation mechanism, and use real applications to pull forward the iteration of new technologies, the validation of new products, and the incubation of new models, promoting the deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain.
Give priority to implementing industrial-chain policies, and strive to change the selective industrial policies of the past and shift toward functional industrial-chain policies. The focus of policy formulation and implementation should no longer be on picking winners, but rather on consolidating the foundation of the industrial chain, safeguarding fair competition, and improving the innovation ecosystem. At the same time, establish an evaluation system for coordinated industrial development. Evaluation of industrial development should not focus only on investment scale, the number of enterprises, and output value growth; it should add indicators and their weights in such aspects as industrial integration, innovation coordination, and industrial-chain resilience, including industry-university-research cooperation and the self-sufficiency rate of core components. Improve statistical monitoring and third-party evaluation mechanisms, guide all localities to overcome erroneous tendencies such as "loving the new and loathing the old" and "valuing visible achievements over latent achievements," and make integrated deployment, advancement, and assessment of the renewal of traditional industries, the strengthening of emerging industries, and the cultivation of future industries.
(The author is director of the Institute of Chinese-Style Modernization, Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences (江苏省社科院中国式现代化研究院).)
Return to TopBy: 毛炜豪
As technology continues to advance, the form of warfare is iterating at an accelerating pace. Looking back over the history of the evolution of warfare, the attacking and defending sides have presented certain cyclical historical phenomena. Exploring these phenomena and the reasons behind them has important and urgent practical significance for discerning the underlying laws of warfare and prevailing in future intelligentized warfare.
First, two views on offense and defense in warfare.
If "whether a war system centered on new main battle weapons has been formed" is taken as the yardstick, the form of warfare has already undergone at least seven evolutions — bronze-weapon warfare, chariot warfare, iron-weapon warfare, cavalry warfare, gunpowder-weapon warfare, mechanized warfare, and informationized warfare — and these evolutions have, step by step, strengthened the combat capability of the combat subject, "man": the first six repeatedly strengthened man's upper-limb fighting capability and lower-limb mobility capability; informationized warfare began to strengthen man's sensory perception capability and nervous-system control capability. By the same logic, today's unmanned warfare focuses on strengthening the new upper-limb striking capability derived from "beyond-visual-range perception and control capability," while future intelligentized warfare will focus on strengthening the decision-making capability of the human brain.
In arriving at this view, a regular phenomenon can be discovered. A review of the history of human warfare reveals that when man's "upper-limb" striking capability was enhanced, warfare often favored the defender — as with the repeated heavy defeats inflicted by English longbowmen on French heavy cavalry in the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and the large-scale slaughter of attacking infantry by Maxim machine guns in the Battles of Verdun and the Somme during World War I; when man's "lower-limb" mobility capability was enhanced, warfare often favored the attacker — as with the Mongol cavalry sweeping across the Eurasian continent in the Middle Ages, and the German tank clusters dominating Europe in World War II. 无独有偶 (wú dú yǒu ǒu - "not alone, yet having a counterpart," there is a matching case), in 1978, Robert Jervis, a professor at Columbia University, proposed a theory on technological progress and human peace. He found that in history, offensive weapons technology and defensive weapons technology advanced alternately: whenever offensive weapons gained the dominant position, war became more frequent; whenever defensive weapons were stronger, war decreased. This alternating ascent of weapons included the machine gun of World War I and the tank of World War II, and it was not until the appearance of the ultimate defensive weapon of the Cold War era — the nuclear weapon — that an era of peace under the "balance of terror" was brought about.
These two views do not conflict but complement each other. Key capabilities in warfare can be divided into striking and mobility, while Professor Jervis's view divides them into striking and protection. Combining the two views, it can be seen that striking capability is very important for both offense and defense. On the basis of possessing a certain striking capability, the compounding of striking and mobility capabilities can enhance offensive capability, and the compounding of striking and protection capabilities can enhance defensive capability. But the compounding of all three is very difficult to achieve — because mobility and protection are often a pair of contradictions. The Art of War by Sun Tzu says, "One skilled at defense hides below the ninefold earth; one skilled at attack moves above the ninefold heavens," which fully expresses the binary opposition between protection and mobility in the spatial dimension.
Second, the "three-element offense-defense model" and the "periodic transformation of offense-defense advantage."
The relationship between striking, protection, mobility, and offensive and defensive capability can be described as a "three-element offense-defense model" with these three types of elements as the vertices of a triangle. This model has the following characteristics.
First, "same-dimension" compounding multiplies effectiveness. When striking, protection, and mobility capabilities are "matched" and are in the "same dimension," they can exert maximum effectiveness. The dimension referred to here mainly means the "technological" dimension, and the precondition for same-dimension compounding to multiply effectiveness is the synchronous application of the most advanced technology of the time. For example, Mongol cavalry wielding hand-held bows reached the peak of offensive capability in the cold-weapons era, but cavalry wielding rifled firearms had little room for usefulness in the hot-weapons era, because the guns and artillery representing striking capability and the warhorses representing mobility capability were simply not in the same technological dimension. But when guns and artillery were combined with caterpillar-track engines and steel armor of the same dimension, the king of land warfare representing the peak of offensive capability — the tank — was born.
Second, "different-dimension" mutual restraint. When striking, protection, and mobility capabilities are not in the "same technological dimension," a relationship of mutual restraint is formed, and this promotes "alternating stepwise" development among the three. For example, in Jervis's "offense-defense model," fortresses and cannons represent protection and striking capabilities respectively. Because conventional fortresses could block the charge of cavalry but could not withstand the bombardment of cannons, fortresses gradually disappeared and evolved into "star fortresses" characterized by comprehensive three-dimensional defense and crossfire, which then suppressed conventional artillery. When new artillery with longer range and greater power appeared, the protection capability of "star fortresses" declined, and they gradually evolved into the new fortification system of World War I composed of trenches, tunnels, and shelters.
Third, the "information dimension" is downward-compatible. This model does not mention the capability of using information, including the capabilities of acquiring, transmitting, and processing information, because the capability of using information is at a higher dimension and can be compounded and compatible with all other capabilities. For example, striking requires coordinate information, mobility requires navigation information, protection requires concealment information, and so on.
When man's offensive capability is relatively strong, defensive capability is suppressed, and war is dominated by mobile warfare, presenting a state of expansion and spread; this state in turn promotes the accelerated progress of defensive technology until it offsets and surpasses the technological advantage possessed by the attacker. When man's defensive capability is relatively strong, offensive capability is suppressed, and war is dominated by positional warfare, presenting a state of stalemate and attrition; this state in turn is broken by new technological progress, ultimately leading the attacker to establish a new relative advantage over the defender. This phenomenon can be called the "periodic transformation of offense-defense advantage" in war.
Third, the source force driving the alternating evolution of offensive and defensive weapons.
This in turn raises a new question: what is the driving force behind the periodic transformation of offense-defense advantage? The answer is very simple — technology. The smoothbore musket and gunpowder brought about gunpowder-weapon warfare; the internal combustion engine and alloy manufacturing technology brought about mechanized warfare; and so on. But the focus of the question is not "how technology drives war," but "which side technology is more favorable to," or, more specifically, "whether a certain technology, in the final analysis, belongs to the offensive or defensive category"? Because once this is known, people can predict the future development trend of warfare.
Viewed from this angle, many disruptive technologies carry an innate "offense-defense attribute" as soon as they are born. For example, do drones belong to the offensive or defensive category? This question can be explained with the "three-element offense-defense model." First, although the drone is a strengthening of man's sensory perception and nervous-system control capabilities, its ultimate practical effect is still the strengthening of the soldier's "upper-limb" striking capability, and its compounding with protection capability makes warfare more favorable to the defender. That some local wars have fallen into prolonged attrition warfare also proves this point. Second, the drone has greatly strengthened man's "upper-limb" striking capability, which in turn has suppressed mobility and protection capabilities. This suppression will in turn compel the enhancement of mobility and protection capabilities, ultimately offsetting or even surpassing the notable advantage possessed by the drone's striking capability. But technological progress takes time; before a new disruptive technology arrives, drones will continue to dominate the battlefield.
Fourth, deeper thoughts on offensive and defensive tactics.
Based on the above analysis, it is easy to think of another question: since the form of war itself has offense-defense advantage attributes, do offensive and defensive tactics still have meaning?
Tactics are certainly important, but what is more important is the war-era background in which tactics are situated. To put it more directly, in an era when the attacker holds the advantage, war is more favorable to the attacker, so that the attacker has a higher probability of victory than the defender, and offensive tactics are also more likely to play a role; the same is true for the defender. In other words, the factor that most influences victory or defeat in war may not be offensive and defensive tactics, but the era background in which one is situated, and this does not negate the value of tactics. Because even in an era when the attacker holds the advantage, examples of failed attacks are 比比皆是 (bǐ bǐ jiē shì - "everywhere, all are thus," extremely common); and the reverse is equally true. The era background can only increase or decrease the probability of success or failure; it cannot completely decide victory or defeat, and reasonable tactics remain of vital importance.
In the era of unmanned warfare, how can the attacker gain the advantage? Or, what kind of equipment can effectively check the 铺天盖地 (pū tiān gài dì - "spreading over the sky and covering the earth," overwhelming and omnipresent) drones? One answer is AI robots. This is because, under the unmanned form of warfare, the attacker's biggest shortcoming on the battlefield is not equipment, but man — man's flesh-and-blood body is too fragile on the battlefield. The combination of unmanned technology and AI technology can make up for this biggest shortcoming: unmanned equipment, as low-cost expendables, can replace human soldiers, unafraid of the defender's firepower damage and minefield blocking; the AI brain, as the decision-making subject, can, in accordance with human will, enable unmanned equipment to fight autonomously, thereby achieving the breakthrough and occupation of the enemy's defensive positions. War cases from abroad are proving this point: a robot company at full establishment strength has achieved the occupation of enemy positions.
From this it can be concluded that if unmanned warfare is the era in which the defender holds the advantage, then intelligentized warfare will be the era in which the attacker holds the advantage. Further reflection can yield another insight: offensive and defensive tactics are certainly important, but offensive and defensive technology is even more important. Because tactics can only increase the probability of victory in one war, while technology can drive the evolution of the form of warfare, thereby increasing the probability of victory in all wars. To put it more directly, steering war to the form one's own side needs may be far more important than devising operational methods and tactics under an unsuitable form of war.
Return to TopBy: 王天祥
The submarine propulsion system is the core foundation for an underwater platform to achieve maneuver, covert lurking, and long-range assault. In plain terms, it is the "underwater heart" of the submarine. When surface ships navigate, they can directly inhale air to burn fuel and obtain power, while depths of several hundred meters in the deep sea are completely cut off from air. A modern submarine propulsion system must simultaneously solve three core problems: continuously generating power in an oxygen-free underwater environment; the endurance and self-sustaining capability for long-duration underwater navigation; and reducing mechanical and fluid noise to the greatest extent to evade enemy underwater sonar detection.
At the dawn of submarine development, various schemes such as manual hand-cranking, compressed air, and simple steam power were attempted, but they universally suffered from extremely short endurance, rapid exhaustion of power after diving, and bulky structures, completely unable to support actual combat needs. It was not until around the First World War that the diesel-electric combined power scheme matured and took final shape, becoming the first underwater power system with practical combat value. The working mode of this system is very clear: when the submarine surfaces or extends its snorkel, it starts the diesel engine to drive the generator, simultaneously storing electrical energy in the submarine's large-capacity storage batteries; after fully submerging, it immediately shuts down the diesel engine and relies on the storage batteries to release electrical energy to drive the electric motor for navigation. However, this basic scheme has a fatal shortcoming: the energy storage capacity of the storage batteries is limited, and at a quiet low speed of 4 to 6 knots underwater, it can only remain continuously submerged for 3 to 4 days. To replenish electricity, it must frequently raise the snorkel to inhale air. Once the snorkel is exposed above the water surface, it is highly susceptible to long-range detection by anti-submarine patrol aircraft and surface radar, greatly weakening the core advantage of the submarine's covert operations.
During the Cold War, the intensity of open-ocean underwater confrontation escalated comprehensively, and the navies of various countries put forward higher requirements for the underwater self-sustainment and concealment of submarines. Breakthroughs were simultaneously achieved along two key technical routes. The first route is "air-independent propulsion technology" (AIP). Conventional submarines add an independent power compartment carrying liquid oxygen storage tanks, completing fuel oxidation to generate electricity in a completely sealed underwater environment, with no need to extend the snorkel during the entire process, directly stretching the snorkel-free submerged duration of conventional submarines from 3 days to more than ten days, greatly reducing the frequency of surfacing exposure. The second route is the practical application of nuclear power systems. Relying on controlled nuclear fission to continuously release thermal energy and convert it into electrical energy, they are theoretically nearly free from the dual constraints of fuel and oxygen, achieving a qualitative leap in underwater high-speed long-endurance capability, and becoming the exclusive power source for far-seas strategic deterrence and for submarines maneuvering across sea zones.
Entering the informationized anti-submarine era of the 21st century, the detection sensitivity of global airborne, shipborne, and fixed underwater sonar has multiplied. Merely optimizing the energy system is no longer sufficient to guarantee the underwater survival of submarines, and the terminal thrust device has undergone disruptive innovation. When a traditional open propeller rotates at high speed, a large number of cavitation bubbles form at the blade tips, and the bursting of the bubbles produces intense fluid noise, making it easy for passive sonar to lock on from a long distance. Against this background, shafted pump-jet and shaftless pump-jet propulsors have gradually been fitted in batches to modern submarines, relying on annular guide ducts to suppress cavitation generation and reducing navigation noise at the fluid level.
The four propulsion methods each have their own advantages and disadvantages. A complete submarine propulsion system is divided into two core components: one is the energy generation unit, responsible for converting chemical energy and nuclear energy into electrical energy; the other is the underwater thrust execution mechanism, relying on electrical energy to agitate seawater to form forward thrust. Different combination schemes of energy sources and thrust devices directly determine a submarine's underwater lurking duration, noise level, maneuver speed, and operational positioning, and are also the most core technical markers dividing conventional submarines and nuclear submarines.
The first is diesel-electric power paired with a large-skew open propeller. This is the most basic propulsion combination for small and medium-sized near-seas conventional submarines and the most widely adopted globally, and it is also the power base of all AIP submarines. The entire system consists of a high-power diesel generator set, a large-capacity lead-acid/lithium battery bank, a main drive motor, and a large-skew seven-blade propeller. The entire power plant has a simple and mature structure with low maintenance and repair costs. When creeping at low speed on battery power, only the electric motor operates, producing weak mechanical vibration, and concealment is relatively good when patrolling in near-sea shallow waters and around islands and reefs. However, the storage batteries cannot support long-duration high-speed navigation, and the large-scale cavitation generated by the high-speed rotation of the traditional open propeller leads to reduced concealment.
The second is "diesel-electric + AIP," paired with an improved propeller/small pump jet. The core advantage of the AIP system is that it completes fuel oxidation chemical reactions in a sealed underwater compartment to generate electricity continuously, with no need to extend the snorkel during the entire process. Paired with a small pump-jet propulsor, it can further suppress blade cavitation noise, balancing cost and underwater survivability. For example, Sweden's Gotland-class Stirling AIP submarine, underwater relying on the AIP system at an economical speed of 5 to 6 knots, can navigate continuously without a snorkel for 15 days, and combined with storage batteries, the comprehensive underwater self-sustainment can reach 50 days. However, the overall output power of AIP units is relatively small, and they can only support low-speed quiet cruising, unable to meet the maneuver needs of high-speed pursuit and rapid withdrawal from the battlefield.
The third is nuclear power paired with shafted pump-jet propulsion. This combination is mostly used in large and medium-sized attack nuclear submarines and strategic missile nuclear submarines. The energy core is a pressurized water reactor, which relies on controlled nuclear fission of uranium fuel to continuously release thermal energy, generating high-temperature steam to drive turbo generators and convert it into electrical energy. The electrical energy passes through a long transmission shaft running through the hull to drive the stern annular shafted pump-jet propulsor into operation. It can both conduct concealed ambushes at low speed in the deep sea for a long time and maneuver at high speed alongside aircraft carrier formations to carry out anti-submarine escort missions. The annular pump-jet guide duct uniformly combs the water flow, greatly delaying the rate of cavitation generation; at the same navigation speed, fluid noise is far lower than that of an open propeller. However, nuclear power systems are bulky, and the supporting reactor radiation shielding layers and steam circulation piping greatly increase the submarine's own weight, making the technical threshold of hull design and construction technology extremely high.
The fourth is nuclear power paired with shaftless pump-jet propulsion. The energy supply still relies on an integrated natural-circulation nuclear reactor. The core disruptive innovation is concentrated in the terminal thrust structure: the transmission shaft running through the hull and the reduction gearbox are completely eliminated, removing at the root the vibration noise transmitted from the transmission shaft and gearbox to the hull, greatly reducing the submarine's overall acoustic signature; the annular guide duct continuously suppresses blade cavitation generation, maintaining extremely low fluid noise at both low-speed and medium-speed navigation; after the transmission mechanism is simplified, energy loss in the power system is reduced, and under the same fuel consumption, endurance and maneuverability are simultaneously optimized, making it suitable for missions with high concealment requirements such as long-term deep-sea covert reconnaissance and far-seas strategic patrol.
In addition, there is magnetohydrodynamic propulsion, which is a disruptive underwater propulsion technology oriented toward the future. The entire device completely abandons mechanical moving parts such as blades, bearings, transmission shafts, and gears. It relies on an onboard superconducting magnet to generate a strong magnetic field. When seawater passes through the propulsion channel, a conductive current is formed, and the interaction between the magnetic field and the current generates Lorentz force, directly pushing seawater backward to form navigation thrust. At the theoretical level, the two core noise sources of mechanical vibration and blade cavitation do not exist, and navigation with nearly zero mechanical noise can be achieved.
The 必不可少 (bì bù kě shǎo - "must not be lacking," indispensable) core supporting equipment: no matter which type of propulsion combination — diesel-electric, AIP, or nuclear power — four major categories of supporting equipment must operate in a coordinated and stable manner; only then can the submarine's sustained navigation in deep-sea high-pressure, high-salt-spray environments be ensured. They are the 不可或缺 (bù kě huò quē - "cannot be lacking," indispensable) supporting units of the entire power system.
The first is the core energy generation unit. It includes three categories of equipment: diesel generator sets, various AIP hot-air engine/fuel cell units, and integrated nuclear reactors. It is responsible for uniformly converting chemical energy and nuclear energy into electrical energy, directly determining the upper limit of the submarine's power output.
The second is the energy storage and intelligent power distribution system. Large-capacity lithium battery banks, high-voltage integrated power distribution control cabinets, and intelligent power regulation modules work in coordination, storing surplus electrical energy from the generating units and automatically matching the electricity demand of different operating conditions such as low-speed quiet lurking, high-speed assault, and power supply to onboard electronic equipment.
The third is the whole-submarine noise-reduction and vibration-damping supporting structure. All core power equipment is installed on elastic bases of vibration-damping floating rafts. Multiple structures block the conduction of vibrations from the engines, electric motors, and transmission shafts to the outside of the hull, lowering the submarine's underwater acoustic signal characteristics in all directions. This is the key auxiliary design for achieving quiet navigation.
The fourth is the terminal thrust execution component. It receives electrical energy delivered by the power distribution system and ultimately converts it into seawater thrust for forward navigation. The equipment configuration directly determines the three key operational indicators of the submarine: fluid noise, maneuver efficiency, and maximum speed.
In the future, submarine propulsion technology will continue to iterate around the four main lines of long-endurance self-sustainment, ultimate quiet stealth, lightweight universal application, and intelligent integration of multiple energy sources. Simultaneously equipped with an all-domain intelligent energy control system, it will balance the demands of low-speed quiet lurking and high-speed maneuver assault; paired with new composite acoustic suppression materials, it will weaken underwater signal characteristics in all directions, adapting to the increasingly stringent three-dimensional underwater anti-submarine confrontation environment.
Return to TopBy: 祝融
The Battle of Changlinggang (长岭岗战斗) was a classic mountain battle of annihilation fought on July 17, 1934, in which the Red 25th Army (红25军), seizing a battle opportunity in an extremely desperate situation and creating advantage from a position of inferiority, defeated a stronger enemy with a weaker force. Because the battle area was located at Changlinggang (长岭岗) in the southwest of Luoshan County (罗山县), Henan Province, it was called the "Battle of Changlinggang."
Seeking Survival in a Desperate Situation amid Powerful Enemies
In 1934, the combat in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area (鄂豫皖苏区) entered an exceptionally difficult period. In order to thoroughly purge the Red Army in the region, Jiang Jieshi established the "General Headquarters for Bandit Suppression in the Three Provinces of Hubei, Henan, and Anhui" (鄂豫皖三省剿匪总司令部). In late June 1934, the Kuomintang army formulated a three-month "encirclement and suppression" (围剿) plan, adopting the methods of "zonal garrison suppression" and 竭泽而渔 (jié zé ér yú - "drain the pond to catch the fish," to use a thorough, ruthless method that destroys all conditions of survival), dividing the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border region into six "garrison-suppression zones" and one "route-protection zone," using a force of about 60 regiments to carry out "garrison suppression" and consolidate occupation, and forming four "pursuit teams" with 11 regiments, specifically charged with mobile tracking and striking of the Red Army's main forces. This was a strategy combining "garrison suppression" and "pursuit suppression" in an attempt to strangle the Red Army's living space completely. The enemy boasted that within three months it would "completely extinguish the Red Army, leaving no trouble for posterity; thoroughly purge it, so as to achieve full success."
During this period, as the only remaining main Red Army force in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area, the Red 25th Army faced comprehensive inferiority in troop strength, equipment, and supplies. The Red Army was forced to maneuver at high frequency within a narrow area to evade the enemy's encirclement; its situation was extremely difficult. In mid-July, the Red 25th Army was restoring and opening up base areas in the area from Zhutangdian (朱堂店) to Tiepu (铁铺) in Luoshan County, and its movements were detected by the enemy. The Kuomintang army immediately ordered its 117th Division and 115th Division, together with part of the 105th Division of the route-protection troops, to attack the Zhutangdian area from the east and west. To seize the initiative and avoid the enemy's spearhead, the Red 25th Army was forced to shift southeast to the Baiyashan (白鸭山) area. The enemy's 115th Division and 117th Division pursued in two separate columns from the west and the north. On the 16th, the enemy's 117th Division pressed from Tiepu toward Baiyashan, while the enemy's 108th Division, stationed at Xuanhuadian (宣化店), sent one regiment to advance into the Yaojiafan (姚家畈) area south of Baiyashan to stop the Red Army from moving south.
Under the desperate conditions of absolute inferiority in overall strength and extremely compressed living space, fighting the enemy head-on would have meant annihilation. It was necessary to maintain a high degree of strategic mobility, 避实就虚 (bì shí jiù xū - "avoid the solid, approach the void," avoid the enemy's strong points and strike at its weak points), and, within the tight encirclement, to seek out the enemy's weak links and the 转瞬即逝 (zhuǎn shùn jí shì - "gone in the blink of an eye," fleeting) opportunities for battle. This was the only way to survive in a desperate situation. Thereupon the Red 25th Army decided to continue the transfer, first going east to Yinjiachong (殷家冲), then turning to the Hejiachong (何家冲) area in the northwest.
Seizing the Battle Opportunity at the Juncture of Life and Death
At dawn on July 17, as the main force of the Red 25th Army was transferring from Yinjiachong to Hejiachong, it reached the south side of Changlinggang and discovered the enemy firing westward with mortars. Army commander Xu Haidong (徐海东), through reconnaissance, found that this enemy was two regiments of the 115th Division, lax in vigilance and unaware that the Red Army was 近在咫尺 (jìn zài zhǐ chǐ - "as near as eight inches to a foot," extremely close at hand); the westward firing was merely 虚张声势 (xū zhāng shēng shì - "falsely display one's momentum and might," to make a deceptive show of force) in an attempt to force the Red Army to show itself. Its deployment was spread out along the Changlinggang line, as follows: the division headquarters was at Changlinggang; the 643rd Regiment was positioned in the area from the western end of Changlinggang to Yuejiagou (岳家沟), with one battalion occupying the high ground west and south of Yuejiagou to serve as a guard; the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 644th Regiment were positioned at the eastern end of Changlinggang, and the 3rd Battalion was on the high ground northeast of Fulidupo (富栗陡坡), on the eastern side of that eastern end.
At this time, the Red 25th Army's position was extremely favorable. Changlinggang is a narrow solitary ridge running from northeast to southwest, about 2.5 kilometers long; the enemy was unable to bring its firepower superiority into play. As long as the enemy's leading troops were routed, the troops behind them would be unable to deploy, and if the Red Army then attacked by exploiting the momentum, victory was certain. The army's leaders keenly seized the 稍纵即逝 (shāo zòng jí shì - "once slightly released, it is gone," fleeting and momentary) opportunity for battle and immediately made the decision to attack. The purpose of the transfer was to leap out of the encirclement and await an opportunity to defeat the enemy. An excellent commander must possess the ability to see a favorable situation while in a passive position, to seize battle opportunities on a battlefield that changes in a flash, and to decisively turn operational maneuver into tactical attack, formulate a targeted operational plan, fix the determination to annihilate the enemy, and thereby achieve "出其不意 (chū qí bù yì - "go forth where the enemy does not expect," to catch the enemy off guard) and 攻其不备 (gōng qí bù bèi - "attack where the enemy is unprepared," to strike when the enemy is unguarded)."
Rapid Decision-Making, Victory in One Battle
The commanders of the Red 25th Army decided to make full use of this favorable opportunity and, after resolute decision-making, quickly formulated the battle deployment: the 1st Battalion of the 224th Regiment of the 75th Division was to attack the enemy's platoon outpost west of Yuejiagou and, after destroying it, continue to thrust deep into the enemy's rear; the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 224th Regiment were to attack the enemy's company outpost south of Yuejiagou and, after destroying it, immediately launch a waist-cutting assault on the enemy's 643rd Regiment (minus its 1st Battalion) between Changlinggang and Yuejiagou; the 74th Division (minus its 1st Battalion), after the 224th Regiment destroyed the enemy's security positions, was to join the battle and, coordinating with that regiment, attack into the enemy's depth and annihilate the enemy in the Changlinggang area.
At about 9 o'clock, the 1st Battalion of the Red Army's 224th Regiment first wiped out the enemy's platoon outpost with swift and violent action and, riding the momentum, then routed the 1st Battalion of the enemy's 643rd Regiment. At the same time, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 224th Regiment also wiped out the enemy's company outpost. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the enemy's 643rd Regiment hastily moved to reinforce west of Yuejiagou, whereupon the Red Army's 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 224th Regiment, 75th Division, taking the enemy by surprise, violently assaulted its flank. The local armed forces active near Changlinggang — the Luoshan Independent Regiment (罗山独立团) and the guerrilla units — also rushed over to occupy the high ground north of Changlinggang and coordinate with the Red Army's main force in the battle. At this time, red flags fluttered over the Red Army positions, and the shouting of "Chinese do not fight Chinese" (中国人不打中国人) and "Lay down your guns and you will not be killed" (缴枪不杀) was everywhere.
Under the Red Army's three-sided converging attack and powerful political offensive, the enemy's 643rd Regiment fell into instant confusion; its soldiers fled in every direction to escape, some laying down their arms and surrendering, and its regimental commander fled alone to the division headquarters at Changlinggang. The Red Army, seizing the momentum, charged and pursued fiercely, driving straight into the enemy's division headquarters at Changlinggang. The enemy division commander, Yao Dongfan (姚东藩), seeing the critical situation, hastily ordered the 644th Regiment to check the Red Army's attack. But under the pressure of the 643rd Regiment's routed soldiers streaming back and the Red Army's assault, the 644th Regiment could not advance; it could only hastily put up resistance on the spot near its division headquarters, covering the division headquarters and the remnants of the 643rd Regiment as they fled to the northeast. At this point, two battalions of our army's 74th Division also threw themselves into the battle and launched a furious assault; the 644th Regiment, unable to withstand the attack, hastily withdrew. Thereupon, five battalions of the Red 25th Army, coordinating in a fierce assault and pressing forward in victorious pursuit, annihilated most of the remaining enemy at the eastern end of Changlinggang.
This battle of annihilation, which took only a little more than three hours, saw the Red 25th Army, at the extremely small cost of a few dozen casualties, win the major victory of routing the enemy's 115th Division and annihilating five enemy battalions, capturing more than 60 light machine guns, more than 800 long and short firearms, and many military supplies, including mortars. The Battle of Changlinggang is a model of combining "strategic defense" with "tactical offense," and a classic mountain annihilation battle in the military history of the Red Army in which the few defeated the many, the weak defeated the strong, and the enemy was nearly completely annihilated. The victory at Changlinggang dealt 当头一棒 (dāng tóu yī bàng - "a club blow on the head," a heavy, stunning blow) to the Kuomintang army's three-month "encirclement and suppression" plan, greatly encouraged the soldiers and civilians of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area, gave the Red 25th Army's weapons and equipment 焕然一新 (huàn rán yī xīn - "shining and altogether new," a complete and striking renewal), laid a solid material foundation for the Red 25th Army to meet the even more severe trials ahead, provided experience and reference for Red Army operations in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area, and also provided an important reference for the mountain battles of the Red Army's subsequent Long March.
Return to TopBy: 李宪堂
In the Spring and Autumn period, rites crumbled and music was ruined (礼崩乐坏 (lǐ bēng yuè huài - "rites crumble, music is ruined," the collapse of the ritual-music order)); the authority of the Zhou royal house waned day by day, and the ritual-music and patriarchal-clan institutions that sustained the order of the realm were on the verge of collapse (摇摇欲坠 (yáo yáo yù zhuì - "swaying, about to fall," on the verge of collapse)). The arrangement of which the Analects speaks, in which "rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the Son of Heaven," was dissolving day by day. Feudal lords rose in unison and the various states contended; externally the Yi and Di peoples surrounded and harassed them, while internally the well-field system disintegrated and the nobility seized power and stirred up disorder. In the midst of this chaotic age, the various feudal states had no choice but to break through the bonds of the old institutions and seek other routes in governing the state and ordering affairs. The Zuo Zhuan, as a classic historical work recording the events of the Spring and Autumn period, records in full and accurate detail the administrative measures, statements and doctrines, and governing practices of the rulers and ministers of the various states.
Valuing the People, De-emphasizing the Spirits (重民轻神)
During the Western Zhou, divine authority and royal authority were tightly bound together; sacrificing to the spirits and revering the Mandate of Heaven were important standards of governance, and the people were merely an appendage attached to the clans and the deities. When the Spring and Autumn period arrived, years of successive warfare and the withering of the people's livelihoods (民生凋敝 (mín shēng diāo bì - "the people's livelihoods wither away," destitution of the common people)) led no small number of enlightened rulers and ministers to see clearly the root of a state's survival, and people-as-root thought (民本) was carried out in some governing practices.
The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Huan, sixth year, records a remonstrance addressed by Ji Liang (季梁), a grand officer of the state of Sui, to the Marquis of Sui — a passage that may be called the classic formulation of Spring and Autumn people-as-root thought. At the time, the Marquis of Sui was single-mindedly absorbed in sacrificing to ghosts and spirits, vainly hoping to rely on the protection of the deities to make his state secure, while turning a blind eye (视而不见 (shì ér bù jiàn - "look at it but not see it," to turn a blind eye)) to the reality of burdensome taxes at home and the displacement of the people. Ji Liang said bluntly: "The people are the masters of the spirits; this is why the sage kings first brought the people to completion and only then devoted their efforts to the spirits." In his view, the will of the spirits comes into being in dependence on the people, and the common people are the true foundation of the state; only by first pacifying the people and improving their livelihoods does sacrificing to the spirits have meaning, whereas to cast aside the people and serve the spirits will inevitably lead the state to danger and ruin. This was no isolated case (无独有偶 (wú dú yǒu ǒu - "not solitary but paired," by no means a lone case)): in the Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhuang, thirty-second year, Shi Yin (史嚚), a grand officer of the state of Guo, confronted with the disorder of a ruler who single-mindedly sought the spirits and cast divination blocks and never asked about the people's livelihood, voiced the lament: "When the state is about to flourish, it listens to the people; when it is about to perish, it listens to the spirits." These two records show that a cohort of knowledgeable people of the time had already realized that divine power should not be set above human affairs, and that whether the people's hearts turned toward or away was the key to judging the rise and fall of the state's fortunes.
Guan Zhong of Qi, assisting Duke Huan of Qi in completing the enterprise of hegemony, showed much consideration for the people's livelihood in governance. He not only graded the tax levels according to the quality of the land, regulating the gap between rich and poor, but also prohibited the nobility from arbitrarily conscripting the people's labor, so as to ensure that agricultural production proceeded in an orderly way. Zi Chan of Zheng, moreover, carried the pacification of the people and the ordering of government to the extreme. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xiang, twenty-fifth year, records his insight on governance: "Government is like agricultural labor: think of it day and night, think of its beginning in order to complete its end, and act on it morning and evening. Action must not overstep thought, just as the farmer has his boundary ridges." Zi Chan compared the governance of the state to plowing and planting the fields, holding that those who exercise government must be down-to-earth and pragmatic (脚踏实地 (jiǎo tà shí dì - "feet planted on solid ground," down-to-earth and pragmatic)), show consideration for the people's circumstances, and act according to regulations. He straightened out field boundaries, reformed military levies, and revised laws and standards, giving consideration to both order and the people's livelihood, and thereby enabled Zheng to preserve its ruling mandate in the crevices between the great neighboring states. Surveying the words and deeds of the figures recorded in the Zuo Zhuan, one can see that the people-as-root thought of the Spring and Autumn period carried out a certain reflection on the traditional concept of the supremacy of the Mandate of Heaven; the strength of the people and the hearts of the people became the foundation of warfare, production, and taxation, and to disregard the people's livelihood would shake the very root on which the state was established.
革故鼎新 (gé gù dǐng xīn - "abolish the old, establish the new," sweeping away the old and instituting innovation)
The old patriarchal-clan, enfeeoffment, and well-field institutions were produced in the relatively stable and secure ruling environment of the Western Zhou; by the Spring and Autumn period, they were already rife with ills. Under the enfeeoffment system, the nobility held fiefs by hereditary succession and held in their hands the great powers of military administration and tax collection, daily growing too big to control (尾大不掉 (wěi dà bù diào - "the tail is too big to wag," so powerful that the head can no longer control it)). The well-field system disintegrated continuously, private fields appeared in great numbers, and the state's tax sources shrank without cease. Faced with a situation of difficulties within and without (内外交困 (nèi wài jiāo kùn - "beset with difficulties within and without")), the various states one after another pushed forward institutional reforms.
In the local administrative system, the sprouting of the county system was the most landmark institutional breakthrough of the Spring and Autumn period, striking at the old pattern of hereditary enfeeoffment. The Western Zhou relied on layer upon layer of enfeeoffment to manage the localities: feudal lords and high ministers possessed the land and the people for generations, and the central court found it difficult to mobilize local resources. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhuang, eighteenth year, records: "Formerly, King Wu of Chu conquered Quan and had Dou Min (斗缗) govern it." After King Wu of Chu had attacked and extinguished the state of Quan, he did not enfeoff the land to a high minister, but directly dispatched an official to govern it — a representative historical example of the sprouting of the county system in the Spring and Autumn period. Unlike enfeoffed fiefs, county heads were directly appointed and removed by the ruler, did not hold their positions by heredity, and had no independent sovereignty; the powers of administration, conscription, and tax collection all belonged to the ducal house. Thereafter, whenever Chu annexed a small state, it took the occasion to establish a county for its governance, greatly strengthening royal power. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhao, twenty-eighth year, mentions that after Jin eliminated the two great ministerial lineages of the Qi (祁氏) and Yangshe (羊舌氏) clans, it divided their lands into ten counties, and county grand officers appointed by the ruler managed them. The counties and towns belonged to the ruler, and taxes and military force were by and large controlled by the ducal house; this move weakened the foundation of the old nobility's hereditary separatist rule. At the same time, Qi implemented separate governance of the state and the hinterland (国、鄙分治), demarcating grass-roots organizations such as townships, settlements, and companies, in order to regularize the population and coordinate labor.
Conforming to the reality of the well-field system's step-by-step disintegration, the various states adjusted their land and corvée levy systems one after another. Qi implemented "assessing the land and levying taxes by grade" (相地而衰征), deciding the tax grade according to the quality of the land. The Zuo Zhuan also records several important tax and levy reforms: Lu implemented the "initial taxation by the mu" (初税亩), opening a new model of taxation by acreage and dealing a blow to the old well-field system; Zheng carried out "making the qiu levy" (作丘赋), conscripting military levies on the standard of the grassroots territorial unit "qiu"; Chu implemented "measuring the intake and fixing the levy" (量入修赋), surveying the land and assessing tribute levies according to the yields of its products. This series of institutional reforms impelled state governance to shift from reliance on the clans to reliance on landed assets. To coordinate with taxation and jurisdiction, supporting institutions such as household registration statistics and land surveying gradually took shape, and the state's capacity to control grass-roots society increased by a large measure.
Using Ritual and Law Together (礼法并用)
Although "rites crumbled and music was ruined" was a major feature of the Spring and Autumn period, it did not mean that the ritual system had completely exited the stage of history. Reading through the Zuo Zhuan, one can see that the ritual system remained the core framework maintaining social ethics and order, while the increasingly acute social contradictions in turn gave birth to written penal law, and in the end a governance model of ritual primary and punishment auxiliary (礼主刑辅), ritual and law used together, took shape.
The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Yin, eleventh year, provides a definition of "ritual": "Ritual is what orders the state, stabilizes the altars of state, gives sequence to the people, and benefits posterity." "Ritual" was the fundamental standard for governing the state, securing the altars of state, and regulating human relations. Even when feudal lords overstepped the ritual system and punitive campaigns continued without end, "ritual" remained the important standard for judging the conduct of rulers, ministers, and grand officers and the successes and failures of governance. From the interactions of rulers and ministers, the assemblies and covenants, and the punitive campaigns above, down to daily words and deeds and lineage rites below, everything was constrained by "ritual." The ritual system laid emphasis on transforming people's hearts, distinguishing high and low, and nurturing social customs; relying on morality and public opinion to guide the people to be content with their station and keep their place (安分守己 (ān fèn shǒu jǐ - "be content with one's lot and keep to oneself," to stay dutifully in one's place)), it was a supple means of governance. Many worthy ministers in the Zuo Zhuan advocated governing the state with "virtue" and "ritual," holding that only by acting in accordance with ritual could hearts be united and the state consolidated, and that to abandon it would bring on social disorder.
Mere ritual-music edification could hardly cope with the frequent disputes, crimes, and noble abuses of power in the chaotic age, and written law accordingly arose in response to the times (应运而生 (yìng yùn ér shēng - "rise in response to the destined time," to emerge as the times require)), becoming a rigid constraint outside the ritual system. Before the Spring and Autumn period, the law was held in the hands of the nobility; there were no unified, publicly disclosed provisions, the nobility could mete out penalties at will, and the common people had not the slightest protection. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhao, sixth year, records that Zi Chan of Zheng took the lead in "casting the penal documents" (铸刑书), casting the legal provisions onto bronze vessels and publishing them to the entire populace. From then on, the law was no longer a secret internal to the nobility; the common people could regulate their own behavior in accordance with the legal provisions, and the judicial privileges of the nobility were greatly restricted. Before long, Jin imitated Zheng by casting penal tripods and publishing the state's laws.
This act stirred no little controversy at the time. Shu Xiang (叔向) and others held that written law had broken the hierarchy of ritual and would cause the people to pursue "profit" and discard "ritual." Yet according to later researchers' readings of the relevant events in the Zuo Zhuan, after the publication of written law, disputes among the people gained a publicly open basis for adjudication, forming a certain check on the nobility's arbitrary justice and helping to regularize the social order. Represented by Zi Chan, who upheld the idea that "leniency and severity complement each other" (宽猛相济 (kuān měng xiāng jì - "leniency and severity reinforce each other")), some enlightened statesmen had already recognized that "ritual" stresses edification and "punishment" stresses deterrence, and that the two could complement each other. This laid the groundwork for the later governing thought of ritual as primary and punishment as auxiliary.
Against the era's background of the decline of the Zhou house and the contention of the various states, a number of enlightened statesmen broke through the old intellectual shackles of the supremacy of divine power and hereditary patriarchal succession, set forth the idea that the people are the foundation of the state (民为邦本 (mín wéi bāng běn - "the people are the foundation of the state")), and impelled innovations in local administration and the corvée and levy systems. These ideas and practices were all explorations made by the various states in the chaotic age in search of survival and development. But limited by the age, this series of explorations was, after all, only partial adjustment. The Zuo Zhuan repeatedly mentions phenomena such as the Three Huan (三桓) monopolizing power in Lu and the Six Ministers (六卿) dominating the government of Jin: the forces of the hereditary nobility remained deeply entrenched (根深蒂固 (gēn shēn dì gù - "deep roots and firm stems," deeply entrenched)), the contradiction between the power of the ruler and the power of the ministers was difficult to reconcile, the practice of virtuous government mostly depended on the personal virtue of those in power and lacked long-term institutional safeguards, and the practical needs of the wars for hegemony frequently came into conflict with the ideal of ritual governance. Precisely for this reason, the state governance of the Spring and Autumn period was only an intermediate form in the transition from aristocratic politics to bureaucratic politics; thoroughgoing transformation still had to await the reforms of the Warring States for its completion. But it cannot be denied that the people-as-root thought, the embryonic county system, and the governing idea of using ritual and law together that sprouted in this period have already been deeply fused into China's traditional political civilization, and have set in motion the surging and magnificent (波澜壮阔 (bō lán zhuàng kuò - "waves vast and wide," surging and magnificent)) social and political transformations of the several hundred years that followed.
Return to TopBy: 胡亚军 梁桂雪
In the hometown of Mencius, Zoucheng (邹城), Shandong, the Mencius Temple (孟庙) has ancient cypresses in deep green and a forest of inscribed stelae. An official-admonition stele (官箴碑) surviving from the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty stands beneath the portico of the Reverence Gate (致敬门廊). Unlike ordinary stelae inscribed on two faces, this is an uncommon square-column stele with four sides, and on its four sides are carved admonitions respectively themed on "integrity" (廉), "benevolence" (仁), "fairness" (公), and "diligence" (勤), emphasizing the political virtue that those who serve as officials and engage in governance should possess. Although this stele was erected in the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, the reflections in its inscription concerning the four [concepts of] integrity, benevolence, fairness, and diligence can be traced back to the celebrated Southern Song figure Zhen Dexiu (真德秀). As a famous Neo-Confucian philosopher and statesman of the time, he also had considerable insight into the virtue of holding office. In the fifteenth year of the Jiading reign (1222), when Zhen Dexiu was in charge of Tanzhou (潭州) (present-day Changsha, Hunan), in order to warn and spur himself and his subordinates, he formulated the celebrated "four matters" (四事) of governance: "discipline oneself with integrity (律己以廉), cherish the people with benevolence (抚民以仁), maintain the heart with fairness (存心以公), and attend to affairs with diligence (莅事以勤)." In his later years, when Zhen Dexiu again governed Quanzhou, he "further elaborated the meaning of these four, providing more detail," and used this to rectify official governance and revive the people's livelihood. Later, his student Wang Mai (王迈), moved with admiration for his revered teacher's character and achievements, composed admonitions with integrity, benevolence, fairness, and diligence as the guiding lines, in order to express his submission and praise. More than three hundred years later, Liang Zhouyan (梁州彦), as a holder of the jinshi degree (进士), was made magistrate of Zou County (邹县; present-day Zoucheng, Shandong). Within the county yamen he had a stone stele set up, and had the admonition text written by Wang Mai carved upon it, to encourage himself and his subordinates to be clean, diligent, and dutiful. This is how the Four-Sided Admonition Stele (四面箴碑) came to be.
Discipline Oneself with Integrity. For those who serve as officials and engage in governance, incorruptibility is the basic standard of conduct. The admonition on integrity opens by connecting "integrity" with the lifelong honor and disgrace of those who serve as officials and engage in governance, pointing out that "if the slightest spot defiles, it becomes the flaw of a lifetime"; only by keeping integrity can one preserve lifelong reputation and honor. As for how to keep integrity, the admonition says: "Do not say that the dark chamber [conceals you]; the four knowings (四知) are clear and bright. If you do not love yourself, how can the spiritual intelligence of your heart be deceived?" On his way to take up office in Donglai (东莱) in the Eastern Han, Yang Zhen (杨震) was sought out in the dead of night by his student Wang Mi (王密), who carried a heavy sum of gold to express his regard. In this secret meeting that seemed known to no one, Yang Zhen refused the temptation and admonished Wang Mi with "Heaven knows, the spirits know, I know, you know" (天知、神知、我知、子知). Through this allusion, the admonition warns officials that the fostering of integrity lies in being watchful over oneself when alone (慎独); not deceiving oneself is the truest self-love. In contrast, "five or six camel-loads of gold, eight hundred hu of pepper — in life not enough for glory, and after a thousand years there is still punishment to spare" satirizes two officials of the Tang dynasty. The military general Gao Xianzhi (高仙芝), coveting the wealth of the State of Shi (石国), plundered that state's treasures with unrighteous devices — the gold alone required five or six camels to carry. The chancellor Yuan Zai (元载), when his household was searched for his corrupt practices, was found to possess countless rarities and treasures — the tribute pepper alone amounted to eight hundred hu. The former, through his own greed, ultimately provoked war on the frontier; the latter is left with the rank infamy of a thousand ages. In the admonition, the line "that beautiful gentleman, one crane and one zither; looking upon him, he is awe-inspiring; his pure wind [of integrity] reaches from antiquity to the present" is praise for Zhao Bian (赵抃), the iron-faced censor of the Song dynasty. When he went to take up office in Sichuan, he had only a crane and a zither with him; when he left office, he was as frugal as before. It became a celebrated story of clean and honest conduct. The "Annals of Emperor Xuan" in the Book of Han (《汉书·宣帝纪》) says: "If officials are not clean and impartial, the way of governance decays." Therefore, cleanness and incorruptibility bear on one's own reputation and moral integrity, and affect the peace of the state.
Cherish the People with Benevolence. The gist of the admonition on benevolence is to warn those who serve as officials and engage in governance that they should take heed of the people's circumstances, harbor a benevolent heart, exercise benevolent governance, and benefit the people's livelihood. "In antiquity, when the people hungered and drowned, [the sage] took it as his own hunger and drowning. With a sincere heart he sought relief for them, as if protecting an infant." The general meaning is that the benevolent and virtuous men of antiquity felt the hardship of the people 感同身受 (gǎn tóng shēn shòu - "to feel the same as if receiving it in one's own body," to empathize with their suffering), and that earnest sincerity in rescuing the people from water and fire was like a mother cherishing the child she has just given birth to. Fine tales such as Yu the Great bringing the people to control the flood, passing by his home three times without entering, and Houji (后稷) painstakingly studying agricultural methods to teach the people to sow and harvest and thus escape hunger — these are models of benevolence and virtue extolled and emulated by later ages. The admonition also cites the unbenevolent ways of cruel officials: "In the chamber they laugh and converse, drinking rich wine and gnawing fat meat; when they go out, they beat and flog, never knowing the people's pain or itch. The heart's lack of benevolence can go so far!" They indulged in the extravagance of 酒池肉林 (jiǔ chí ròu lín - "pool of wine, forest of meat," extreme prodigality and dissipation), enjoyed the pleasures of singing and dancing, and at every turn oppressed and tortured the people, unmindful of their suffering, their life, or their death. The callousness of the human heart and the cruelty of governance actually reached such a point! As one who held the admonition in high regard, Liang Zhouyan always used it to warn himself and 身体力行 (shēn tǐ lì xíng - "to practice it personally with body and strength," to earnestly practice what one advocates). According to the Gazetteer of Zou County (《邹县志》), before he took office in Zou County, the local people were deep in misery under the disasters of drought and oppressive governance. To relieve the people's afflictions, Liang Zhouyan strongly advocated such policies as "prohibiting idleness and drifting, eliminating tyrants and bullies, curtailing corvée service, and lightening taxes and levies," punished powerful evildoers and corrupt officials, and strengthened moral teaching. After he left office, the people recalled his benevolence with gratitude and erected a shrine in reverence. "The beneficent grace of a good reputation is still worshipped after a hundred generations; of the heirs of cruel officials, how many are left today? They were only content to be petty men and would not be gentlemen." With benevolence and love like Liang Zhouyan's, even after a hundred years, people still cherish his memory.
Maintain the Heart with Fairness. "Fairness" aims at clearly distinguishing where benefits and interests should be attributed, abiding by uprightness and righteousness, and being 无偏无私 (wú piān wú sī - "without partiality, without selfishness," wholly fair and disinterested) in matters such as the selection and appointment of people and the adjudication of cases and penalties. This both points out the public nature of the matters handled by those who serve as officials and engage in governance, and emphasizes that in determining right and wrong, and the gravity of penalties, the instrument of the public law should be employed, with vigilance against interference from private intentions and personal relationships. The admonition on fairness begins with the examples: "Being generous to in-laws and near to petty men — this is why Lord Yin was not fair in holding the balance; opening a sincere heart and setting forth just principles — this is why Marquis Wu alone excelled among the helpers of kings." Yin Jifu (尹吉甫) had originally been a worthy minister, but because he showed partiality toward unworthy kinsmen, he lost even-handedness in his conduct. In contrast, Zhuge Liang treated people with an open and sincere heart and conducted affairs by fair and upright principles, and therefore he was more revered and more distinguished. Between the negative and the positive example, what are the motives and the difference? The admonition says, "The original heart is sun and moon, but profit and desire erode it; the great Way is a broad avenue, but bias and prejudice obstruct it," revealing the two-fold answer of private interest and bias. To act with the aim of seeking private gain will inevitably lead to the distortion of values; to act driven by personal preference can bring about wrong verdicts and mistaken punishments. This is the meaning of "If what one hears and believes is biased, the upright are wronged and the wicked favored; if one's joy and anger are biased, rewards are excessive and punishments run rampant. Only fairness produces clarity; bias produces darkness." Governance is not easy, and a fair heart is hard to maintain. But the harder it is to maintain, the more one should distinguish public from private, uphold public law, listen to all sides to discern the truth, and seek fairness and equity. This is the loyalty to which officials are bound, and it is also 民心所向 (mín xīn suǒ xiàng - "the direction in which the people's hearts turn," the will of the people).
Attend to Affairs with Diligence. "Diligence" is a virtue for cultivating oneself and prospering the family, and it is also an item of virtue by which officials are assessed. The admonition on diligence opens with a rhetorical question: "The splendor of your raiment, the abundance of your fare — every thread of silk and every grain of millet is supplied to you by the people's strength. Dwelling in office, you leave its duties vacant; eating of its emolument, you slight its affairs. If you have any human feeling, how can you not feel ashamed?" The gorgeous garments you enjoy and the sumptuous food you relish all come from the people's provision. To occupy a position yet not work diligently, and to take the court's salary yet be idle and remiss — how can you not feel ashamed? This is like 当头棒喝 (dāng tóu bàng hè - "a blow on the head and a shout," a sharp warning that startles one into wakefulness), rousing officials who are lax in government and devoted to pleasure. The admonition's intent is not limited to reasoning that diligence is righteousness and that one should work diligently for the people. Through the line, "The gentlemen of old did not eat in idleness; in the heat sweat soaked their backs, and by day they refused no hardship; with a wake-up pillow they tallied their merits, and at night they had no ease. Who is my teacher? One Fan and one Han," those who serve as officials and engage in governance are told to bear in mind all the more the diligent, practical style of the ancient gentleman, who was 安贫乐道 (ān pín lè dào - "content in poverty, delighting in the Way," to be at peace in poverty and devoted to right principles) and 宵衣旰食 (xiāo yī gàn shí - "don robes at dawn, sup at dusk," to labor at government from dawn until night). Taking Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹) and Han Qi (韩琦) as their models, they should know shame and then act with courage, be 夙夜在公 (sù yè zài gōng - "morning and night at public duty," to devote oneself to public business day and night), and be 兢兢业业 (jīng jīng yè yè - "cautious and conscientious," diligent and meticulous).
When Liang Zhouyan erected the Four-Sided Admonition Stele, his postscript said: "All those of like mind with me should inscribe one copy of it and place it beside their seat." Looking through the official admonitions of successive dynasties, famous words that alert the world are 浩如烟海 (hào rú yān hǎi - "vast as a misty sea," innumerable). Yet in conducting oneself and serving in government, "integrity" is the bottom line for holding office, "benevolence" is the root for holding office, "fairness" is the righteousness for holding office, and "diligence" is the attitude for holding office.
Return to TopBy: 李长庚
敬以直内，义以方外 (jìng yǐ zhí nèi, yì yǐ fāng wài - "by reverence make the inner straight, by righteousness make the outer square," using reverence to straighten the inner heart and righteousness to square outer conduct) comes from the "Commentary on the Words of the Text" (文言传) on the Kun Hexagram of the Zhouyi. The line statement of "six in the second place" of the Kun Hexagram says: "Straight, square, great; without practice, nothing is unfavorable." The "Commentary on the Words of the Text" explains: "Straight is its correctness; square is its righteousness. The noble person uses reverence to make the inner straight and righteousness to make the outer square. When reverence and righteousness are established, virtue is not solitary." In brief, "straight" means an upright inner heart, and "square" means conduct that accords with righteousness. This line text was originally a divination statement, taking the images of the earth's "straight," "square," and "great" to prognosticate that undertakings would obtain auspicious omens; the "Commentary on the Words of the Text" extended its meaning from this, urging the noble person to cultivate the qualities of "straight," "square," and "great," and pointing out the method of establishing virtue — always harboring a reverent heart to rectify the original mind, and strictly adhering to standards of moral righteousness to regulate words and deeds. Once the cultivation of "reverence" and "righteousness" takes root in the heart and is carried out in conduct, virtue is full, companions on the Way are at one's side, and one does not become isolated and without support.
Traditional classical scholarship held that the "Commentary on the Words of the Text" was the work of Confucius; modern academic research has verified through textual study that it was composed in the middle-to-late Warring States period, coming from the later students of the Confucian school, and that it belongs to the "Ten Wings" of the Commentaries on the Changes, being devoted to explaining the Qian and Kun hexagrams. At that time, with 礼崩乐坏 (lǐ bēng yuè huài - "rites crumbled and music collapsed," the breakdown of the ritual and musical order) and wars coming one after another, the system of rites and music had become a mere formality, unable to restrain human hearts or reconcile social contradictions. The people of the age had lost their values, and their words and deeds had lost their norms; society urgently needed to reshape moral standards and the foundation of values. The "Commentary on the Words of the Text" advocated the dual cultivation of "reverence" and "righteousness"; rather than relying solely on external rites and music to regulate people, it turned to opening a path of moral cultivation that seeks within and unites the inner and the outer. This interpretation both manifests the spiritual pursuit of the saying "the earth's configuration is kun; the noble person carries all things with ample virtue" — 厚德载物 (hòu dé zài wù - "ample virtue carries all things," to support all things with generous virtue) — and embodies the aim of the Commentaries on the Changes to "extend the Way of Heaven to illuminate human affairs" (推天道以明人事), advocating cultivation of both the inner and the outer: inwardly, use "reverence" to rectify the mind; outwardly, use "righteousness" to establish the person. As Zhu Xi said in the Classified Conversations of Master Zhu (朱子语类): "By reverence make the inner straight, by righteousness make the outer square — these eight characters, used for a lifetime, are inexhaustible." This suffices to show that their value is enduring and 历久弥新 (lì jiǔ mí xīn - "the longer it lasts, the fresher it becomes," ever renewing with time).
"By reverence, make the inner straight" emphasizes cultivating the self with sincere reverence and rectifying the original mind. In the "Commentary on the Words of the Text," "reverence" is a spiritual state of being respectful and solemn, knowing fear and exercising caution; "straight" means to make something upright and not crooked; "inner" refers specifically to the heart-mind; the so-called "making the inner straight" is to make the inner heart upright and magnanimous. Kong Yingda's Correct Meaning of the Zhouyi (周易正义) states in its sub-commentary: "The noble person uses reverence to make the inner straight; the 'inner' refers to the mind. With this reverence and respect he straightens the inner principle." The meaning is that one should always harbor awe and caution in the heart and keep the inner heart upright. In the Song dynasty, the Cheng–Zhu school carried forward the doctrinal meaning of "reverence." Cheng Yi proposed: "What is called reverence — making the One the master is called reverence; what is called the One — not going elsewhere is called the One." "Reverence" means that thoughts are single-minded and the spirit is focused, not chasing external things and selfish desires. Zhu Xi inherited Cheng Yi's view that "nourishing [the mind] requires reverence" (涵养须用敬), perfected the cultivation theory of "making reverence master" (主敬), and held that in the ordinary preservation and nourishment of heart-mind nature, the key lies in holding fast to sincere reverence and eliminating selfish and stray thoughts. "By reverence, make the inner straight" means to watch over the field of the heart at all times, promptly pulling out the weeds of greed, restlessness, and stray thoughts, not allowing deviant thoughts and reckless notions to spread wantonly, keeping the inner heart pure and upright — within, no reckless thoughts; without, no reckless actions — diligently brushing away the "dust of thought" (思想尘), often pondering the "harm of desire" (贪欲害), and constantly breaking the "thief in the heart" (心中贼). Although this teaching was first advocated by the Yangming school of mind, it is connected with the Cheng–Zhu theory of "making reverence master and overcoming selfishness" (主敬克私). Zeng Guofan likewise treated "making reverence master" as the most important daily lesson of self-cultivation; even when military and governmental affairs were extremely busy, he still insisted on keeping a diary to reflect on himself, constantly reminding himself to rid himself of restlessness, not to be fettered by fame, rank, profit, and emolument, and always to keep his inner heart magnanimous and upright.
"By righteousness, make the outer square" focuses on regulating words and deeds with moral righteousness. The so-called "square" means upright and square, having rules, having principles, and guarding the bottom line; "righteousness" means what is fitting — that is, handling affairs fittingly and with due measure in both reason and sentiment. "Making the outer square" is to implement fitting and measured standards of moral righteousness in external words and deeds, so that conduct is square and meticulous and does not overstep the rules. Cheng Yi proposed that "reverence is only the way of holding oneself; with righteousness one knows what is right and what is wrong," emphasizing that "righteousness" is the yardstick for judging right and wrong. Zhu Xi said: "Righteousness is the governing rule of the heart and the fitness of affairs," holding that "righteousness" is the standard of inner weighing and balancing. Guarding "righteousness" enables one to grasp proportion in handling affairs, doing everything in a way that accords with reason and sentiment and accords with moral righteousness. "By righteousness, make the outer square" emphasizes that in conducting oneself one adheres to moral righteousness and possesses moral integrity — not 见风使舵 (jiàn fēng shǐ duò - "seeing the wind, turn the rudder," opportunistically shifting one's position), not 随波逐流 (suí bō zhú liú - "following the waves, drifting with the current," going along with the tide without principles), and not being "walltop grass" (墙头草) that sways with the wind. Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song adhered to moral righteousness, feared no powerful figures, and remonstrated frankly; though repeatedly demoted, he never changed his original aspiration; diligent in governance for the people, he practiced his responsibility to family and country with the conviction of "being the first to worry about the world's worries and the last to rejoice in the world's joys." Wen Tianxiang of the Southern Song 挺身而出 (tǐng shēn ér chū - "straighten the body and step forward," to step forward bravely) at the moment of national crisis; after defeat in battle and capture, he refused the lure of high office, chose death over surrender, and with "since ancient times, who among men has not died? Let me keep a loyal heart to shine in the annals of history" gave expression to the lofty integrity of 舍生取义 (shě shēng qǔ yì - "abandon life and take righteousness," sacrificing one's life for righteousness). "By righteousness, make the outer square" creates a noble personality that is square, unyielding, and 刚直不阿 (gāng zhí bù ē - "firm and upright, never fawning"). The lines in Zheng Banqiao's "Bamboo and Rock" — "a thousand grindings, ten thousand strikes, still firm and strong; let the winds from east, west, south, and north blow as they will" — are likewise a vivid portrayal of a personality that walks the straight path.
"By reverence, make the inner straight" and "by righteousness, make the outer square" are 相辅相成 (xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng - "mutually assist and mutually complete," complementing each other), mutually dependent, and 密不可分 (mì bù kě fēn - "so close they cannot be separated," inseparable). Self-cultivation must cultivate both the inner and the outer. Zhu Xi pointed out: "By reverence, making the inner straight is the work of holding fast; by righteousness, making the outer square is the work of study and inquiry." "Reverence" is the work of inward examination — restraining restlessness and selfish desire and guarding the original mind; "righteousness" is the yardstick of outward conduct — clarifying the boundary between right and wrong and guarding the bottom line of conduct. "Holding to reverence" and "guarding righteousness" are interconnected; 缺一不可 (quē yī bù kě - "if one is lacking, it will not do," neither can be dispensed with). Zhu Xi further expressed: "If [one has] reverence without righteousness, affairs are certain to go wrong; if [one has] righteousness without reverence, then lacking a root, how can one practice righteousness? Both would be solitary." He held that "making the inner straight" is the foundation and premise, while "making the outer square" is its externalization and practice. If the inner heart lacks sincere reverence and one talks emptily of moral righteousness, then outward rule-following is nothing but deliberate performance — it appears square in conduct, but in reality is hypocritical and contrived. Inner cultivation must, in the end, be manifested in outward conduct; if one talks emptily of cultivation divorced from practice, self-cultivation loses its meaning. If one merely sits quietly and examines within, although there is the straightness of heart-mind nature, there is no squareness in handling affairs, and inner cultivation sinks into a state of hollow, useless, dead stillness. Only when the two complement each other can they jointly construct the stable foundation of the ideal personality.
In daily self-cultivation practice, how should one manage the relationship between the two? From this, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi distilled the self-cultivation method of "the mutual support of reverence and righteousness" (敬义夹持). Taking the holding of reverence within the heart as the root of self-cultivation, they held that if a person guards sincere reverence and single-mindedness and casts out selfish desires, then handling affairs will naturally accord with moral righteousness — "reverence" and "righteousness" are originally one body and need not be deliberately cultivated as two separate exercises. Zhu Xi perfected and developed this theory, holding that "reverence" governs preservation and nourishment while "righteousness" governs responding to affairs, dividing cultivation into the two ends of stillness and activity: when dwelling at leisure with nothing to do, rely on "reverence" to gather the heart-mind and nourish the nature; when handling affairs, rely on "righteousness" to distinguish right from wrong and correct words and deeds. The two support each other, cycling and mutually aiding, never apart for a moment. "Reverence" accomplishes the straightness within; "righteousness" manifests the squareness without — one still and one active, one inner and one outer — neither may be neglected. Always harboring a heart of awe and reverence to rectify the original mind, and firmly guarding the standard of moral righteousness to establish words and deeds, one can both guard the purity and steadfastness of the inner heart so as not to be carried along by utility, fame, and restlessness, and guard principles and the bottom line, achieving a measure in standing in the world and a limit in conducting affairs, and finally reaching the ideal realm of 知行合一 (zhī xíng hé yī - "knowledge and action united as one," the unity of knowing and doing).
Return to TopWeihai Guangtai R&D Building — National Airport Ground Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center (国家空港地面设备工程技术研究中心)
The tractor undertakes the C919 towing support task
Container cargo loaders serve Mexico's Felipe Ángeles International Airport
The Huyue electric 27-ton aircraft tractor serves France's Bordeaux International Airport
Thirty-five years ago, in a rented old factory building, Li Guangtai (李光太), founder and honorary chairman of Weihai Guangtai Airport Equipment Co., Ltd. (威海广泰空港设备股份有限公司, hereinafter referred to as Weihai Guangtai), took the first step of entrepreneurship, harboring the ambition: "China is so vast — could it be that not even one 400-hertz AC power supply vehicle can be made?" Across thirty-five years of springs and autumns, from building the first aircraft power supply vehicle to producing the full series of electric airport equipment, from annual revenue of just over 300,000 yuan to nearly 3 billion yuan, Weihai Guangtai, with 35 years of persistence and innovation, has completed the leap from "following" to "leading," constantly burnishing the base color of its original aspiration of serving the country through industry (产业报国).
Sustainable development is an important cornerstone for an enterprise to enhance its core competitiveness and long-term value. As a backbone enterprise in the field of high-end equipment manufacturing, Weihai Guangtai thoroughly implements the new development philosophy (新发展理念), deeply integrates environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) concepts into the entire chain of corporate strategy and operations, and has blazed a practical path of sustainable development for manufacturing enterprises.
Recently, the ESG rating agency Shanghai Huazheng Index Information Service Co., Ltd. (上海华证指数信息服务有限公司) released the 2026 annual ESG series rankings and rating results. Weihai Guangtai was successfully selected for the "2026 A-Share Listed Companies First ESG Report Outstanding Enterprises TOP100" list and received the highest ESG rating, AAA. The ESG rating agency Wind (万得) also recently announced the 2026 annual listed company ESG rating results, and Weihai Guangtai received an AA rating in the ESG industrial rating.
Behind these multiple certifications lies a manufacturing enterprise's 35 years of steadfast persistence, with an original aspiration as firm as a rock (初心如磐, chu xin ru pan - "original aspiration firm as a rock"), and, even more, its profound understanding and firm practice of the concept of sustainable development.
Optimizing governance and consolidating the foundation of sustainable development. Sound corporate governance is an important guarantee for an enterprise to go steady and reach far (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "go steady, reach far," to proceed steadily and achieve long-term success), and it is also the core pillar of ESG system building. Weihai Guangtai has always placed governance capacity building in a prominent position, driving the continuous improvement of governance effectiveness through institutional innovation — and the starting point of all this is precisely the original aspiration of serving the country through industry. The corporate spirit of "sincere trust, persistent pursuit, steadiness and pragmatism, pioneering innovation and reaching far" is like a gene, rooted in the hearts of every Guangtai person. This inherited original aspiration and quality of steadfastness have become the spiritual foundation for the company to traverse cycles and go steady and reach far, and also the deepest cultural soil of the ESG governance system.
In 2025, the company established the Board Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee, built a three-level linked ESG governance architecture of "governance level—management level—execution level," and formed a closed-loop management mechanism of top-down coordinated advancement and bottom-up feedback implementation. The company revised more than 20 governance systems, including the Articles of Association and the Rules of Procedure of the Board of Directors, further improved mechanisms such as information disclosure, investor relations management, and related-party transactions, and promoted the modernization of the corporate governance system and governance capacity. In investor protection, the company continues to implement multiple cash dividends per year, effectively enhancing investors' sense of gain (获得感). At the same time, the company adheres to compliant operations, continuously consolidates the foundation of risk control management, realizes whole-process risk control, and continuously strengthens compliance management, risk prevention and control, and safety control capabilities, ensuring the company's long-term sustainable development.
Strengthening the foundation through intelligent manufacturing and driving high-quality development with innovation. Innovation is the primary driving force leading development, and it is also the core strategy that Weihai Guangtai has consistently pursued over the past 35 years (一以贯之, yi yi guan zhi - "thread through with one principle," consistent and unswerving throughout). From establishing the development policy of "taking technological innovation as the leading force" at the time of its founding, to striving today to stand on the global industry's innovation high ground, this main line of innovation has never wavered and never deviated. Innovation has already been integrated into Weihai Guangtai's bloodline, becoming the enterprise's most distinctive cultural hallmark.
In 2015, the domestically produced large aircraft C919 rolled off the final assembly line, and the tractor developed and produced by Weihai Guangtai undertook its towing support task. The moment they received the task, Weihai Guangtai's engineers felt both immensely honored and deeply aware that core technology cannot be bought or begged for — one must rely on oneself. From towbar towing to towbarless towing, this was a technological revolution in the tractor field: a towbarless tractor connects directly to the aircraft's nose landing gear and relies on the aircraft's weight to achieve towing, placing extremely high demands on center-of-gravity distribution, impact control, and precision recognition. The R&D team built a test simulation vehicle at 1:1 scale according to the C919 airframe parameters, extensively collected parameters of all aircraft models on the market, and repeatedly debugged, tested, and simulated. Sometimes, to achieve a breakthrough on a single parameter, several hundred tests had to be conducted. In just two years, the R&D team successively broke through a series of core technologies, including aircraft model identification and oversteering monitoring, controlled the docking precision to within 1 centimeter, and broke the technical monopoly of foreign manufacturers.
Such innovative practice has run through Weihai Guangtai's development course of more than 30 years. The company continues to increase R&D investment and has built a multi-level innovation platform system — investing 30 million yuan to build an engineering laboratory and spending 310 million yuan to complete the National Airport Ground Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center. As of 2025, the company's number of valid invention patents reached 737, with fruitful innovation achievements and remarkable transformation results.
At Weihai Guangtai, innovation has never been the business of only a few technical personnel. Through formulating and improving the Measures for Rewards in Scientific Research and Technology Development, the Measures for the Management of Improvement Proposal Activities, and the Employee Points Incentive System, the company has formed a complete incentive system, turning "everyone wants to innovate, everyone can innovate" from an ideal into reality. "Good products are Guangtai's DNA" has become the consensus of all Guangtai people. From modular design to standardized production, from refined processes to rigorous inspection, behind every piece of equipment is Weihai Guangtai's ultimate pursuit of product quality.
Earnestly practicing low-carbon and implementing the green and low-carbon concept. When the ecology thrives, civilization thrives. Weihai Guangtai actively responds to the national "dual carbon" strategy (双碳 — carbon peak and carbon neutrality), threads the green and low-carbon concept through the entire process of production and operation, and systematically advances its green transformation.
On the product side, the company completed the electrified development and manufacturing of the full series of airport ground equipment, achieved a "lane change to overtake" (换道超车, huan dao chao che - "change lanes to overtake," to surpass competitors by shifting to a new track) on the international track, and seized the first opportunity in the global wave of airport equipment electrification. As early as 2009, Weihai Guangtai laid its groundwork in advance for the R&D of electrified products, starting with the core motor, electronic control, and battery management systems, and overcame the key technologies one by one. According to calculations, replacing traditional fuel-powered equipment with electric equipment can reduce carbon emissions by 80%. Looking globally, green aviation has become an irreversible trend. Weihai Guangtai will use more advanced solutions to effectively resolve problems such as airport electricity shortages and difficulties in power system renovation, contributing strength to green and sustainable development.
On the production side, the company has built distributed photovoltaic power generation systems at locations such as the Yangting Base (羊亭基地) and the Lingang Plant Area (临港厂区), continuously raising the self-sufficiency rate of clean energy. In recent years, the company has invested a cumulative total of more than 20 million yuan in pollution prevention and control, installing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) waste gas treatment equipment for each production plant, effectively reducing emissions of various pollutants. In 2025, Weihai Guangtai directly reduced carbon emissions by 7,570.85 metric tons, and the company's cleaner production audit smoothly passed acceptance.
Giving back to society and practicing the corporate tenet. Weihai Guangtai has always upheld the corporate tenet of "contributing to society," relied on its industrial advantages to continuously carry out public welfare practices, and interpreted with concrete actions the responsibility of private enterprises in the new era.
Combining its own industrial advantages, Weihai Guangtai continues to support the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, actively carrying out activities such as public welfare assistance and donations of money and goods. Its subsidiary, Guangtai Medical Technology (广泰医疗科技), leverages its technological advantages in mobile medical equipment, provides professional equipment, assists volunteer doctors' free clinic actions, promotes the sinking of high-quality medical resources to the grassroots, and benefits residents of multiple communities. In recent years, the company's cumulative public welfare donations have reached more than 17 million yuan, and it was selected for the "2022 China Manufacturing Enterprise Charity and Public Welfare Top 500."
Collaborative win-win and jointly building a sustainable industrial ecosystem. Weihai Guangtai continues to deepen supply chain ESG management, integrates ESG concepts into all aspects of procurement, and, through its own actions, drives the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to jointly improve the level of sustainable development. In 2025, the company conducted evaluations of 1,157 suppliers, established a comprehensive supplier ESG assessment system, and promoted supply chain partners to jointly practice the concept of sustainable development. In supply chain collaboration, the company launched a Manufacturing Process Management/Computer-Aided Process Planning (MPM/CAPP) structured process management system, promoted the digital upgrade of the supply chain, and improved supply chain collaboration efficiency and refined management levels through information-based means. Weihai Guangtai regards product quality and safety as the lifeline of the enterprise, has built a quality management system covering the entire product life cycle, collaborates with the supply chain to jointly build "Guangtai good products," and jointly builds a sustainable industrial ecosystem.
In 2025, Weihai Guangtai released its first ESG report. The ESG rating results obtained in 2026 reflect the good foundation the company has laid in sustainable development practice. Looking back along the road traveled, what has supported Weihai Guangtai all the way is the original aspiration of serving the country through industry, is the policy of "taking technological innovation as the leading force," and is the belief that "good products are Guangtai's DNA." This profound corporate culture is precisely the solid foundation of ESG system building, and also the code for the enterprise to traverse cycles and keep its foundation evergreen (基业长青, ji ye chang qing - "foundation and enterprise ever-green," enduring prosperity across generations).
Standing at the new starting point of the "15th Five-Year Plan" (十五五), Weihai Guangtai will continue to deepen ESG system building, deeply integrate the concept of sustainable development into strategic decision-making and daily operations, and, through steady and long-lasting operations, continue to create long-term value for shareholders, customers, employees, and society, contributing the wisdom and strength of a manufacturing enterprise to the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
(Weihai Guangtai Airport Equipment Co., Ltd.)
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