Summary: The article calls on Party members and cadres to deeply study and implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Party building, emphasizing the need to read original texts, grasp fundamentals, link study to practice, and continuously follow up on theoretical innovations. It highlights the Fourteen Commitments as a concentrated summary of the thought's scientific connotation and stresses the importance of fulfilling the responsibility for governing and strengthening the Party. The piece outlines methods for study, including examining the Party's disciplinary system, anti-corruption efforts, and organizational building, while urging higher standards in implementing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. It also emphasizes establishing a correct view of political achievements, taking the lead in being loyal, clean, and responsible, and ensuring Party schools serve as main channels for cadre education. The article concludes by framing the study as essential for advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era.
Summary: The article states that General Secretary Xi Jinping recently instructed that establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a long-term task requiring sustained effort, with prominent deviation problems kept firmly in sight and tracked for results. It argues that correcting deviations in this view is both a tough battle and a protracted war, as such deviations show differential complexity, stubborn concealment, and systemic transmissibility. The piece calls for systematic governance addressing both symptoms and root causes, elevating effective practices from intra-Party education into institutional norms across education, investigation, assessment, and supervision. It emphasizes targeted education for different groups, tracking rectification of problems like new officials not settling old accounts, and improving differentiated assessment systems around high-quality development. The article concludes that this study and education is a new starting point, requiring cadres to root the correct view in mind and practice it in action on the new journey of building a strong country.
Summary: The article highlights that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Party-wide learning and education activities have become an important institutional arrangement for addressing key Party building issues. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the recent campaign on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements adhered to theoretical study throughout, rectified deviations in political achievement views, and established practical institutional rules. The campaign was carried through to the very end with a strict and pragmatic work style, achieving notable results and reaching its intended objectives.
Summary: This article argues that the Marxist grand view of history provides scientific methodological guidance for promoting the high-quality development of China's philosophy and social sciences. It emphasizes consolidating the subjectivity of Chinese culture through the "Two Integrations" and accelerating the construction of an independent knowledge system for China's philosophy and social sciences. The piece calls for philosophy and social sciences to serve and support Chinese modernization by answering the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times. It also stresses the need to grasp the changing global situation, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and contribute Chinese wisdom to solving major human problems. The author is the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
Summary: The article argues that theoretical outreach to youth must follow youth development laws and coordinate ideological consolidation, communication channels, and identity-building to arm young people with the Party's scientific theory. It emphasizes precise interpretation grounded in solid theory, strict political gatekeeping, and building outreach teams that include youth peers alongside experts. Outreach should adopt youth-oriented language, expand online and offline positions, and use converged media to match young people's networked and circle-stratified habits. A practice orientation requires precisely grasping youth needs, directly addressing their concerns, and guiding them to integrate knowledge and action. The author, a special researcher at the Guangxi Medical University Base of the Guangxi Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project, concludes that such outreach must enhance its political, scholarly, emotional, and practical force to lead youth in listening to and following the Party.
Summary: The article discusses the importance of addressing minor problems early to prevent major disasters, citing an ancient admonition referenced by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It emphasizes that Party members and cadres must perceive, treat, and guard against small issues before they escalate, as delaying action leads to greater costs and difficulties. The piece stresses the need for discernment, responsibility, and political consciousness in nipping problems in the bud, while also advocating for genuine mutual help and supervision among comrades. It concludes that proactive "stopping the small" is the best protection for oneself, the most sincere help for comrades, and the greatest responsibility for the Party's cause.
Summary: Zhu Hongjun, Party Secretary of Anhui University of Finance and Economics, discusses the "Engels Pause," a term coined by economic historian Robert Allen to describe how during the Industrial Revolution productive forces leapt forward while workers remained impoverished, as a framework for examining the social equity issues brought by technological change. In the AI era, this phenomenon is being iteratively reconstructed in a new digitalized and intelligent form, exhibiting risk characteristics that are more hidden, complex, and long-lasting, including insufficient universal sharing of technological dividends, intensifying employment structure imbalances, and intensifying competition over technological sovereignty. The generative logic of this new "Engels Pause" stems from contradictions between technological autonomy and human control, capital's profit-seeking and technology's value of serving good, dependence on core technologies and technological sovereignty, lagging institutional governance and technological advance, and monopolistic resource distribution and inclusive development. To resolve it, Zhu advocates for self-reliance in core technologies to build a foundation for technological sovereignty, improving institutional governance frameworks, optimizing distribution mechanisms for universal sharing of dividends, and strengthening ethical regulation to keep AI oriented toward serving good.
Summary: The article argues that comprehensive marine governance is essential for building a maritime power, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's emphasis on balancing marine development and protection during his work in Fujian. It details Fujian's promotion of the "three follow-ups" strategy—safeguards following development, governance following hotspots, and services following needs—as a systematic approach to enhance governance effectiveness. The piece outlines measures such as building the "Minhai Science and Technology Innovation Ark," establishing a "one maritime team for law enforcement" mechanism, and innovating the "five seas and one border" cross-departmental collaboration. It also highlights efforts to protect marine ecology, develop carbon sink fisheries, and participate in global marine governance, including supporting the establishment of the BBNJ Agreement secretariat in Xiamen. The author is the Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director General of the Fujian Provincial Department of Ocean and Fisheries.
Summary: Bank of Communications (BOCOM) is leveraging its comprehensive financial services to support the rapid development of the "new, new three items" — artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs — which feature high R&D investment and technical barriers. BOCOM Guangdong Branch provided nearly 100 million yuan in short-term loans to autonomous driving firm WeRide, helping it complete the loop from technical validation to commercial monetization. BOCOM Liuyang Sub-branch offered 40 million yuan in pure credit and international guarantee services to Changsha Huaheng Robot System, aiding its capacity expansion and overseas market development. BOCOM Shandong Branch tailored a 230 million yuan fixed asset loan for Jinan Keyuan Pharmaceutical & Liniu Pharmaceutical's intelligent manufacturing project, addressing the industry's long construction cycles and heavy investment needs. The bank continues to strengthen cross-border finance and Belt and Road Initiative support, with its cross-border finance basic customer base growing 12.61% year-on-year in the first half of the year.
Summary: The article reports that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized curbing the deterioration of the marine ecological environment and achieving marked improvement. It states that he called for greater attention to harmony between humans and the sea, coordinating development and protection of marine resources. The goal is to build a sustainable marine ecological environment and form a new pattern of positive interaction between humans and the sea. The Study Times high-end think tank edition has launched an in-depth discussion on this topic.
Summary: The article argues that adhering to land-sea coordination is essential for promoting the health of marine ecosystems and supporting high-quality development, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's guidance on integrated protection from mountain tops to the ocean. It notes that about 80% of pollution in China's offshore waters comes from land-based sources, necessitating whole-chain governance from river basins to bays. Progress since the 14th Five-Year Plan period includes a rise in excellent offshore water quality to 84.9% and a 60% reduction in beach litter in key bays, though deep-seated contradictions remain, such as unclear governance responsibilities for upstream river areas and insufficient cross-regional coordination. The piece calls for strengthening top-level design, extending governance responsibilities to upstream basin areas, building integrated security barriers, enhancing monitoring technology, and promoting green transformation of marine industries. The author is identified as the Director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center.
Summary: The article discusses the need to balance marine resource development with ecological protection, citing 2025 data on China's ocean economy, including offshore oil production and wind power growth. It identifies excessive development intensity, extensive methods, and lagging regulation as key causes of ecological damage, such as illegal aquaculture discharges threatening nature reserves. The author proposes three coordinated measures: strict regulation through territorial spatial planning and differentiated management, promoting green transformation via ecological aquaculture and digital monitoring, and improving mechanisms for ecological damage compensation and accountability. The piece emphasizes adhering to the principle of balancing multiple objectives and respecting marine ecological laws. The author is Vice President of the Institute of Marine Development of Ocean University of China.
Summary: The article argues that strengthening marine ecological and environmental protection is essential for modernization, building a maritime power, and constructing a Beautiful China. It cites General Secretary Xi Jinping's call to "care for the ocean as we care for our own lives" and emphasizes coordinating development with protection under Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. The piece highlights persistent problems such as extensive resource use, nearshore overdevelopment, pollution, and ecological degradation, while noting progress like the construction of over 70 beautiful bays during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. It also stresses marine ecological security as vital to national safety, citing risks from sea level rise and disasters, and calls for source control and systematic restoration aligned with the 15th Five-Year Plan. The author is identified as the director of the Marine Policy and Management Research Office of the Institute of Marine Development Strategy of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Summary: The article argues that modern warfare is becoming a "transparent battlefield" where all-domain sensing erodes traditional concealment, making "detection means destruction" the norm. It calls for updating operational thinking, building integrated all-domain systems, and reconstructing training to counter new forms of cognitive deception and information warfare. The piece emphasizes that victory depends on system integration, information superiority, and intelligent analysis, not just equipment or tactics. It advocates combining offense and defense with virtual-real gaming strategies to create asymmetric advantages and one-way transparency. The author concludes that adapting to this battlefield requires transforming thinking, systems, training, and strategy to seize the initiative in future intelligent warfare.
Summary: The article outlines the evolution and modern role of reconnaissance aircraft, from early naked-eye observation to current all-domain intelligence hubs, emphasizing their function in providing real-time intelligence for joint operations. It details the division into strategic and tactical types, with strategic platforms capable of deep-penetration, wide-area surveillance, while tactical variants support frontline forces. The piece highlights capabilities such as all-weather sensing, multi-dimensional intelligence collection, and real-time encrypted transmission, linking reconnaissance to strike and assessment. It also addresses vulnerabilities, including lack of offensive weapons and high costs, and proposes future adaptations like manned-unmanned networking, stealth modifications, AI-assisted processing, and distributed low-cost systems. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The Zunyi Campaign was a major operation in which the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, after establishing a correct military line, took the initiative to seek change, with Mao Zedong proposing at the Zhaxi meeting to turn troops back eastward and recapture Zunyi. The article details the campaign's success through forward-looking strategic planning, including turning troops eastward to break out of encirclement and concentrating forces for mobile warfare, as well as outstanding campaign command involving rapid advances on Tongzi, the Loushan Pass, and Zunyi city. It highlights masterful combat artistry, including flexibility in operations, boosting soldiers' courage, and relying on popular support from the masses in the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou regions. From February 24 to March 1, 1935, the Central Red Army routed and annihilated 2 divisions and 8 regiments of Kuomintang troops, capturing about 3,000 enemy troops and more than 2,000 guns. The campaign dealt a heavy blow to Chiang Kai-shek's direct-line troops and achieved the greatest victory since the start of the Long March.
Summary: The article reflects on the classical phrase "The great affairs of the state lie in sacrifice and war" from the *Zuo Zhuan*, tracing its historical origins to Shang Tang's campaign against Ge Bo and its evolution into a framework for state governance centered on ritual, the people, and legitimacy. It draws on texts such as the *Records of the Grand Historian*, *Mencius*, *Xunzi*, and *The Art of War* to argue that ritual and warfare are complementary institutional mechanisms for ordering the state and regulating the people. The piece also discusses the "way of dignity and bearing" as the basis of political relations, and extends "the great affairs of the state" to include literary and scholarly endeavors, citing Cao Pi and Liu Xie on writing as a great enterprise of governance. It concludes that the inheritance of this tradition reflects a unity of knowledge and action, distilling the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture and a sense of responsibility for the state. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article discusses the *Wenguan Cilin*, a Tang dynasty imperial anthology compiled under Emperor Gaozong and directed by Zhongshu Ling Xu Jingzong, which preserved a millennium of Chinese literary works from the Han to early Tang. It highlights the work's comprehensive genre coverage, systematic classification, and its role in unifying northern and southern literary styles as part of the early Tang's broader cultural unification projects. The text also notes the anthology's dissemination beyond Tang borders, citing a 686 CE request by the king of Silla for selected passages, which transformed it into an "East Asian exemplar" of literary and cultural influence. The author, identified as the chair of the Department of History at Nanjing Normal University, concludes that the work's significance lies in preserving literary continuity, fusing regional traditions, and shaping a shared East Asian cultural model.
Summary: The Mariano Moreno National Library in Buenos Aires, completed in 1992, is a Brutalist landmark that subverts traditional library design through an inverted spatial layout and tree-shaped suspended structure, with book stacks underground and reading spaces above. Its raw concrete aesthetic and open ground floor reflect Argentina's postwar exploration of a modern national architectural language and commitment to public cultural universal benefit. The library's history traces to 1810, when the First Junta established its predecessor to break Spanish colonial cultural shackles, with jurist Mariano Moreno as founder, and its name was legally fixed in 2013. Under directors including Horacio González, it expanded into a composite institution offering exhibitions, lectures, publishing, and academic research, becoming a Latin American library sector benchmark. The building's design and evolution embody Argentina's cultural logic of preserving historical memory while facing the future.
By: 中央党校（国家行政学院）校（院）务委员会
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has, centering on the major era-defining subject of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build it, put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies for governing and strengthening the Party, forming Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, marking that our Party's understanding of the laws of Communist Party governance and the laws of Marxist party building has reached a new height. Xi Jinping's thought on Party building originates from the scientific theory of Marxism, is rooted in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and was nurtured in the great practice of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era. It has a solid practical foundation and profound theoretical origins, and presents a distinctive theoretical character. The Fourteen Commitments (十四个坚持) are a concentrated summary of the scientific connotation of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, profoundly revealing the internal laws by which a Marxist governing party forever maintains vigorous vitality and strong combat effectiveness, and forming a complete theoretical system that embodies the spirit of the times, grasps the laws of development, and is full of creativity.
Studying and implementing Xi Jinping's thought on Party building is an important political task for the whole Party at present and for a period to come. On the basis of the phased results already achieved in earlier study and implementation, Party members and cadres must further deepen their study and understanding, and truly turn the results of their study into vivid practice in advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era.
Study the original texts in full. Xi Jinping's thought on Party building is extensive and profound (博大精深, bo da jing shen - "wide, vast, profound, deep"), rich in content and deep in thought. It is not enough merely to listen to a few guidance reports and become familiar with the Fourteen Commitments; one must also be calm and composed (沉心静气, chen xin jing qi - "sink heart, quiet spirit"), honestly and earnestly read the original works, the original texts, and comprehend the underlying principles. Comrade Mao Zedong once said: "I have read the Communist Manifesto no fewer than a hundred times." "Every time I read it, I gain new inspiration." Party members and cadres must carefully study volumes one and two of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Party Building, and from each speech and each passage of exposition deeply comprehend the historical logic, theoretical logic, and practical logic of the formation and development of this thought, deeply understand and grasp its major significance, essential essence, and practical requirements, and deeply recognize and comprehend a series of landmark major concepts, original ideological viewpoints, and principled theoretical achievements, so as to understand both the phenomenon and the underlying principle (知其然又知其所以然, zhi qi ran you zhi qi suo yi ran - "know its being, also know why it is"), and to understand both its meaning and its rationale.
Study by grasping the fundamentals. Studying Xi Jinping's thought on Party building must grasp the fundamentals. For example, closely following the upholding and strengthening of the Party's leadership, deeply understand that the Party's leadership is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and that the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the highest principle of the Party's leadership. For example, closely following the Party's nature and purpose, accurately grasp what our Party is and what it is to do, further strengthen ideals and convictions, consciously uphold the Party's basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy, and maintain strong resolve in not changing our path and not altering our will. For example, closely following the Party's political stance, comprehend the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, bear in mind that the country is the people and the people are the country, bear in mind that our Party must always maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the masses of the people and must never become an agent of interest groups or power groups. For example, closely following our country's new type of party system, clearly understand that the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, as one of our country's basic political systems, can truly, extensively, and durably represent and realize the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people and the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups and all sectors of the country, and that we absolutely do not adopt the Western multiparty system or separation of powers. Only by grasping these fundamental things can one lift the net by its main rope and deepen one's understanding and grasp of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building.
Study by linking to practice. Xi Jinping's thought on Party building was formed in the great practice of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era. Only by studying and comprehending it in connection with this course, and by clearly understanding the whole course of events or history (来龙去脉, lai long qu mai - "dragon, come; vein, go") and strategic considerations of some major ideological viewpoints, can one truly study it deeply and comprehend it thoroughly. For example, after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping made resolute decisions, formulated and implemented the central Party leadership's Eight-Point Regulation, and from strictly investigating "waste on the tip of the tongue" and "the unhealthy trend in clubs," to deeply governing the hidden mutations of hedonism and extravagance and the stubborn and chronic maladies of formalism and bureaucratism, and then to investigating corruption and misconduct simultaneously and jointly, and making every effort to eradicate the soil and conditions that breed unhealthy tendencies, advanced step by step from point to surface, promoting a completely renewed Party conduct and government conduct. Studying in connection with this course and these changes allows one to understand more thoroughly this important experience of advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party by starting with the improvement of work style, and to deepen one's understanding of promoting the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style improvement. For example, in connection with the fact that the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for the first time incorporated discipline building into the overall layout of Party building, with the three revisions of the Regulations of the Communist Party of China on Disciplinary Action, and then with the conduct of Party discipline learning and education throughout the Party, the Party's disciplinary rules and regulations have been continuously improved and strict discipline enforcement has achieved notable results. This allows one to more deeply comprehend General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions such as "strengthening discipline building is the fundamental strategy for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party" and "comprehensively giving play to the constraining, safeguarding, and motivating roles of Party discipline education," and to enhance the consciousness of observing rules and discipline and the sense of responsibility for strictly enforcing discipline. For example, in connection with the vivid practice in recent years in which General Secretary Xi Jinping has promoted the whole Party to resolutely fight corruption with the determination of scraping poison from the bone and cutting off the wrist of a brave man, one can more deeply comprehend General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions such as "corruption is the biggest tumor endangering the Party's vitality and combat effectiveness," "offend a thousand or a hundred people, yet never fail the 1.4 billion," "there is no 'charter of immunity' from punishment, nor any 'iron-hatted king,'" "unswervingly 'hunt tigers,' 'swat flies,' and 'hunt foxes,'" and "punish new types of corruption and hidden corruption," and enhance the determination and confidence to win the tough battle, protracted war, and overall war against corruption. For example, in connection with the Provisions on the Administration of Business Activities of Spouses, Children, and Children's Spouses of Leading Cadres formulated and implemented by the Party Central Committee, and the implementation of institutional measures such as the normalization and management of overseas conduct of centrally managed cadres, one can more deeply understand General Secretary Xi Jinping's important requirements that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party must start with and be strictly enforced on leading cadres, and that leading cadres, especially senior cadres, must take the lead in opposing privileged thinking and privileged behavior. For example, in connection with the Party Central Committee's strengthening of the building of the Party's organizational system, the integrated resolution of the "midway obstruction" problems in implementing the Party Central Committee's decisions and arrangements, the efforts to strengthen the political functions and organizational functions of Party organizations at all levels, and the effective practice of rectifying formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots level, one can more deeply comprehend General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions such as "the Party's overall leadership and all the Party's work must be realized through the Party's strong organizational system," and promote the systematic building of Party organizations at all levels in accordance with the requirements of being connected from top to bottom and being effective in execution. For example, in connection with a series of major measures taken by the Party Central Committee to resolutely reverse the lax, weak, and loose state of Party governance, one can more deeply comprehend General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions such as "firmly grasp the 'ox nose' of the responsibility for Party governance" and "doing a good job in Party building is one's duty, not doing Party building is dereliction of duty, and doing Party building poorly is incompetence," and more consciously be strict with oneself, strictly bear one's own responsibilities, and strictly manage what is under one's jurisdiction.
Study by continuously following up. Every step forward in theoretical innovation must be followed by a step forward in theoretical arming. Chinese Communists in the new era adhere to emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, continuously broadening theoretical horizons, strengthening theoretical confidence, and in the spiral ascent of practice, understanding, re-practice, and re-understanding, persistently advancing innovation in the Party's theory and practice of Party building. Xi Jinping's thought on Party building is an open ideological system that continuously enriches with the development of practice, and it is necessary to make following up on the study of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building a required course and a regular course. For example, the six excellent qualities of the Communist Party of China distilled by General Secretary Xi Jinping in his important speech at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China systematically answer the question of "why the Communist Party of China can do it," further enriching Xi Jinping's thought on Party building. Party members and cadres must promptly follow up on and study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's latest important speeches and important instructions on Party building, follow up on and study and implement the Party Central Committee's important decisions and arrangements on Party building, calibrate their direction in constant benchmarking against standards, and truly achieve constant learning with new gains and constant comprehension with new progress.
The purpose of learning lies entirely in application. Party members and cadres must consciously use Xi Jinping's thought on Party building to transform the subjective world and the objective world, and embody it in concrete actions to advance the practice of Party building in the new era, strengthen Party spirit cultivation, and fulfill the responsibility of governing and managing the Party.
Implement the Party Central Committee's decisions and arrangements on full and rigorous self-governance of the Party with higher standards and more concrete measures. Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is the distinctive theme of Party building in the new era. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has achieved historic and pioneering achievements, produced all-round and deep-reaching influence, and opened up a new realm of self-revolution for the century-old major Party. But it must also be clearly recognized that the problems of impurity in ideology, impurity in organization, and impurity in work style within the Party have not yet been fundamentally solved, the task of eradicating the soil and conditions for corruption remains arduous and heavy, and full and rigorous self-governance of the Party must be persistently carried on. It is necessary to deeply understand that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is always on the way, deeply comprehend the Party Central Committee's various decisions and arrangements on full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and promote their implementation in light of the actual conditions of one's own region, department, and unit. In particular, it is necessary to solidly do a good job in key work such as using the Party's innovative theory to unite hearts and souls, conscientiously implementing democratic centralism, strengthening the building of leading bodies and the cadre contingent, strengthening the political functions and organizational functions of Party organizations, promoting the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style improvement, comprehensively giving play to the constraining, safeguarding, and motivating roles of Party discipline education, and integratively advancing the efforts to ensure that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt, so as to promote the formation of a clean and upright "general atmosphere." Party building work emphasizes pragmatism and earnest, real implementation; it must not engage in formalism or make superficial gestures, must not pile up potted plants or engage in packaging, must not grasp only points rather than the whole, and must not become disconnected from central work.
Take the lead in being loyal, clean, and responsible. Xi Jinping's thought on Party building not only contains profound power of truth but also shines with brilliant power of personality, centrally displaying the political character, value pursuit, and spiritual demeanor of contemporary Chinese Communists. Party members and cadres must transform the theoretical character and practical requirements of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building into concrete actions for strengthening self-transformation, more deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the Two Establishments (两个确立), resolutely achieve the Two Upholds (两个维护), take loyalty to the Party's faith, loyalty to the Party's organization, and loyalty to the Party's cause as the foundation, and forge loyalty to the Party; take the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and Party discipline as the yardstick for conducting oneself and acting, and always maintain the clean and honest political character; take enhancing the sense of dedication to work, the sense of responsibility, and the ability to perform duties, and boosting the spirit of doing solid work and striving for success as the focal points, so as to not avoid difficulties in affairs, not shirk responsibilities in righteousness, be diligent and pragmatic, and be vigorous and promising, striving to become high-quality cadres worthy of the great task of national rejuvenation.
Consciously establish and practice a correct view of political achievements. The question of the view of political achievements is a fundamental question. The study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements carried out throughout the Party this year has achieved notable results, but it must be clearly recognized that correcting deviations in the view of political achievements and establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a long-term task that requires sustained, long-term effort. It is necessary to adhere to combining "immediate correction" with "long-term establishment," and establish and improve a long-term mechanism for establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements. It is necessary to consolidate and expand the results of the study and education, engrave "standing for the public interest, benefiting the people, making scientific decisions, and doing solid work" in the heart, frequently benchmark against standards and examine and correct one's own problems, and truly achieve making political achievements for the people and making political achievements through solid work. At present, leading bodies at all levels in localities are successively undergoing term changes, and leading cadres should consciously obey the organization and arrangements, correctly treat advancement, retention, transfer, and exit, and ensure that thinking is not relaxed, work is not slackened, and responsibilities are not left unfulfilled. It is necessary to establish and practice well the correct view of political achievements, consciously implement democratic centralism, make scientific decisions and take on responsibilities on the basis of full investigation and research, prevent and overcome the impulse for political achievements of blindly rushing ahead with large-scale projects, not engage in the "three fires of a new official" of overturning and starting over, and continuously do a good job in rectifying and remedying the problem of new officials ignoring old accounts.
New thought leads the new era, and the new journey calls for new responsibilities. Party schools (schools of administration), as the main channel for educating and training cadres and Party members and an important front for the Party's ideological and theoretical building, will continue to deeply study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, comprehensively implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and important instructions on Party school work, take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the main theme, main line, and central content of teaching and research, strive to cultivate talents for the Party and offer counsel for the Party, and promote the latest achievements of the Party's innovative theory into textbooks, into classrooms, and into minds. Adhere to running Party spirit tempering through the entire process of learning, help students grasp the requirements of Party spirit from the Party's innovative theory and draw nourishment for Party spirit. Carefully organize teaching, strictly manage students, so that the atmosphere of learning, the atmosphere of simplicity, and the atmosphere of clarity prevail, and truly build Party schools into important bases where leading cadres master their essential skills, improve their Party spirit cultivation, carry forward fine work styles, and enhance their ability to perform their duties.
Return to TopBy: 本报评论员吴青
The study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements has basically concluded. General Secretary Xi Jinping recently made an important instruction emphasizing that "establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a long-term task that requires sustained, long-term effort" and that "prominent problems of deviation in the view of political achievements that require long-term rectification must be kept firmly in sight and tracked for results." This is both an earnest admonition to the vast number of Party members and leading cadres and a profound grasp of the laws of Party building, pointing the way forward for consolidating and expanding the achievements of the study and education and establishing long-term mechanisms.
Establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements is a lifelong subject that runs through the entire process of leading cadres at all levels performing their duties. Party member leading cadres, at different stages of growth, different positions and ranks, and different development environments, are always in a state of dynamic change in their understanding and grasp of political achievements. From decision-making and deployment to implementation and execution, from initial planning at the start of a term to handover upon leaving office, every link in the operation of power is a touchstone for testing the view of political achievements. Once the "master switch" of ideological understanding goes wrong, every node in the process of performing duties may develop deviations. Upholding what is right and correcting deviations are like two sides of the same coin. Without the continuous cultivation of a correct view of political achievements, correction of deviations loses its coordinate direction; without continuous correction of deviation problems, a correct view of political achievements can hardly truly be internalized in the mind and externalized in action. This determines that correction and governance of deviations is not only a tough battle but also a protracted war, which must be advanced in tandem with establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, sustained in effort, and carried through the entire process of cadre growth, development, and performance of duties.
Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements has effectively resolved a number of prominent problems of deviation in the view of political achievements, further standardized the conduct of leading cadres at all levels in exercising their duties, and effectively promoted the various tasks for the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. But study and education is not the finish line; there must be a sober understanding of the differential complexity, stubborn concealment, and systemic transmissibility of deviations in the view of political achievements. From the perspective of differential complexity, groups such as principal Party and government leaders of localities, newly promoted cadres, young cadres, and cadres in key positions, due to differences in ideological understanding, capability levels, and growth stages, show distinct individual differences in deviation of the view of political achievements, which evolve dynamically with changes in position and environment. From the perspective of stubborn concealment, after explicit problems are corrected, new variants such as "digital formalism" and "campaign-style governance" rebound and resurface in altered forms, with extreme repetitiveness. From the perspective of systemic transmissibility, if individual deviations in the view of political achievements are not corrected in a timely manner, they can easily transmit from individual behavior to the group, spreading and polluting the political ecosystem. These characteristics intertwine and reinforce each other, increasing the difficulty of precise identification and targeted treatment, and determining that correction of deviations in the view of political achievements cannot be accomplished in one battle; it must be persistently pursued without slackening, preventing "education as a passing gust of wind, rain that only wets the surface of the ground."
Correcting deviations in the view of political achievements must adhere to systematic governance and addressing both symptoms and root causes, elevating the effective practices formed during intra-Party centralized education into institutional norms, and promoting the integrated exertion of education and guidance, investigation and rectification, assessment and incentives, and supervision and restraint, forming a governance system that covers all areas of cadre team building, runs through the entire chain of power operation, advances all aspects of routine correction, and implements all links of precise policy application. In grasping education, the emphasis is on cultivating roots and forging the soul, and entering the mind and heart. Strengthen the arming of the Party's innovative theory, provide targeted education to different groups, make good use of both positive and negative typical examples, and guide cadres toward emulating the conduct of virtuous people (见贤思齐, jian xian si qi - "see, worthy person, think, equal to") and taking something as a warning or lesson (引以为戒, yin yi wei jie - "draw, it, as, warning"). In grasping investigation and rectification, the emphasis is on dealing with matters with real toughness and sincerity (动真碰硬, dong zhen peng ying - "move, real, bump, hard") and tracking for results. Keep a firm grip on prominent problems requiring long-term rectification to the very end. Deepen the rectification and remediation of new officials not settling old accounts, improve the responsibility handover checklist between predecessors and successors, and solve problems left over from history with historical responsibility. Strengthen the systemic concept, strengthen the coordination and integration of intra-Party supervision and extra-Party supervision, the organic integration of all aspects of the intra-Party supervision system, and the coordinated linkage of supervision methods of discipline inspection and supervision organs, precisely detect new trends and new manifestations, and enhance the pertinence and penetrating power of investigation and rectification. In grasping assessment, the emphasis is on assessing accurately and truthfully, and rewarding the excellent and punishing the inferior. Improve the differentiated assessment and evaluation system, optimize assessment indicators around the requirements of high-quality development, and strengthen categorized assessment. Establish a personnel selection and appointment orientation that values practical work and practical results, so that cadres with firm political standing, public recognition, and outstanding achievements are given important positions, while cadres with wavering positions, detachment from the masses, and fraud are punished, promoting the ability of cadres to move up and down, and in and out. In grasping supervision, the emphasis is on grasping early and grasping small, and nipping problems in the bud (防微杜渐, fang wei du jian - "prevent, tiny, block, gradual"). Strictly implement democratic centralism, consolidate the primary responsibility of Party organizations at all levels, strengthen routine management and supervision of leading cadres, regularly carry out "look-back" reviews of study and education, and promptly discover and correct problems of a budding or tendentious nature.
One who grasps the great can also encompass the small; one who establishes the far-reaching can achieve the enduring. This study and education is not an end but a new starting point. Correcting deviations in the view of political achievements tempers political resolve, tests feelings for the people, hones scientific thinking, and measures practical ability. Party member leading cadres must deeply understand that creating achievements that withstand the test of practice, the people, and history has no shortcuts and no end point; only by being down-to-earth and making sustained, long-term effort, with firmer resolve, more powerful measures, and a more pragmatic work style, rooting the correct view of political achievements in the mind and practicing it in action, can they write new glory on the new journey of building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation.
Return to TopSince the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, organizing learning and education activities across the Party to address important and pressing issues in Party building during a given period has become an important institutional arrangement for Party building. This time, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the learning and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements has adhered to carrying theoretical study through from beginning to end, truly investigating and practically rectifying deviations in the view of political achievements, focusing on establishing sound institutional rules that are practical and effective, and carrying through to the very end (一抓到底, yi zhua dao di - "one, grasp, reach, bottom") with a strict and pragmatic work style, achieving notable results and reaching the intended objectives.
Return to TopBy: 明海峰
The Marxist grand view of history is an important ideological weapon for our Party to understand the laws of the development of human society, grasp the general trend of history, and promote historical progress. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that the whole Party should be educated and guided to "establish a grand view of history, analyze the mechanisms of evolution, explore the laws of history, and put forward corresponding strategies and policies from the long river of history, the great tide of the times, and the global situation, so as to enhance the systematic, forward-looking, and creative nature of our work." The grand view of history, with its far-reaching historical perspective, broad spatiotemporal vision, and systematic dialectical thinking, provides scientific methodological guidance for promoting the high-quality development of China's philosophy and social sciences on the new journey. To lead the high-quality development of philosophy and social sciences with the grand view of history is to analyze and grasp their development trajectory, historical position, and evolutionary laws from the great cycles of historical background, the great trends of the development of the times, and the great transformations of the global situation, to connect history, reality, and the future, to adhere to not forgetting the original, absorbing from the outside, and facing the future, to accelerate the construction of an independent knowledge system for China's philosophy and social sciences, and to better answer the questions of China, the questions of the world, the questions of the people, and the questions of the times.
In Grasping the Thread of Historical Development, Consolidating and Manifesting the Subjectivity of Chinese Culture
Cultural subjectivity is the cultural form of a nation's subjectivity. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "For any culture to stand firm and go far, to have leading power, cohesion, shaping power, and radiating power, it must have its own subjectivity." The subjectivity of Chinese culture is rooted in the more than 5,000 years of civilization history of the Chinese nation. In this long historical process, the Chinese nation has always maintained a high degree of identification with its own culture and a sober awareness of foreign cultures, has always stood firm in its subjective position, and has continuously achieved self-sublimation and self-transcendence in the process of integrating and assimilating foreign cultures, becoming the only splendid civilization in human history that has continued for more than 5,000 years without interruption, demonstrating the unique spiritual characteristics of Chinese civilization and making significant contributions to promoting the progress of human civilization.
A nation's cultural subjectivity is not constructed out of thin air in a study, but is gradually established and continuously elevated in the historical practice of deeply grasping historical laws, responding to the challenges of the times, and solving practical problems. As an important tool for human society to understand and transform the world, philosophy and social sciences are an important component and theoretical expression of a nation's culture. Based on the more than 5,000 years of civilization inheritance history of the Chinese nation and the general background of the historical and cultural development of the West in the same period, examining the historical development trajectory of China's philosophy and social sciences over the past hundred years, it is not difficult to find that this historical process is precisely a vivid portrayal of the subjectivity of Chinese culture moving from decline to restoration, from passivity to initiative. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's philosophy and social sciences have achieved a series of accomplishments in independent innovation. From clearly proposing in 2016 to "accelerate the construction of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics," breaking the academic dependence on Western centrism, to explicitly requiring in 2026 to "accelerate the construction of an independent knowledge system for China's philosophy and social sciences," this marks the cultural subjectivity of China's philosophy and social sciences moving from "historical awakening" to "elevation of the times," achieving a shift from asking "whether we can be independent" to focusing on "how to form our own system." On the new journey of the new era, we must grasp the historical initiative, adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping's cultural thought, continue to promote the in-depth practice of the Two Integrations (两个结合), take root in the fertile soil of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, place ourselves in the vivid scenes of Chinese modernization, concentrate our efforts to promote in an organized manner the overall construction of the "four beams and eight pillars" of the independent knowledge system for China's philosophy and social sciences, and let cultural subjectivity run through all fields and the entire process of knowledge production.
In Grasping the General Trend of the Times, Serving and Supporting Chinese Modernization
Problems are the slogans of the times. Grasping the general trend of the development of the times objectively requires that China's philosophy and social sciences must enhance historical initiative, strengthen theoretical confidence, achieve academic self-awareness, and actively answer the major issues raised by the times. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. On the new journey of the new era, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to comprehensively build a great modern socialist country, achieve the Second Centenary Goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization. Examining Chinese modernization within the profound historical depth of more than a hundred years, its historical inevitability and essential requirements determine that it is not a modernization of remaining aloof from the world or avoiding involvement in trouble (独善其身, du shan qi shen - "alone, enjoy, its, body"); it is both China's and the world's, profoundly changing China while also profoundly affecting the world. This general trend of the development of the times naturally possesses the logical prescriptiveness of history, practice, and theory.
History shows that the vitality of all knowledge production ultimately depends on the depth and breadth of its service to the times and to the people. The more than 5,000 years of civilization history of the Chinese nation and the history of struggle for rejuvenation since modern times repeatedly confirm a truth: the creation of knowledge lies not in self-appreciation, but in applying knowledge to practical social needs (经世致用, jing shi zhi yong - "manage, world, apply, use"). Chinese modernization is an unprecedented pioneering undertaking. In this process, philosophy and social sciences bear an irreplaceable political mission and academic responsibility. From the "five musts, five urgent needs" proposed in 2016 to the explicit requirement in 2026 to "better answer the four questions," this marks our entry into a new stage from "daring to answer" to "being good at answering." This is an era that needs theory and is certainly capable of producing theory. After 10 years of rapid development, China's philosophy and social sciences have adhered to the Two Integrations, focused on serving and supporting Chinese modernization, solidly promoted knowledge innovation, theoretical innovation, and methodological innovation, and achieved a series of landmark and pioneering significant accomplishments. Practice shows that China's philosophy and social sciences are capable of actively responding to the new problems emerging on the new journey. On the new journey of the new era, we must adhere to "China" as the method, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, anchor the basic propositions and iconic concept clusters for theoretical research formed by Chinese modernization, focus on major national strategic needs and practical problems in reform and development, produce decision-making consultation results and policy plans supported by data and operable for implementation, so that academic research truly serves scientific decision-making and the improvement of governance efficiency, and better serves the overall strategic situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
In Grasping the Changing Global Situation, Better Responding to the Common Concerns of Mankind
The grand view of history emphasizes a global perspective and a world-historical vision; it is a telescope for us to observe the changing global situation and grasp the general trend of historical development in the evolution of the world pattern. Human civilization has exhibited diversity since its birth, and world history is, in essence, the history of the common evolution of various civilizations. In today's world, changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and global turmoil is intertwined with conflicts and contradictions. Facing the multiple and complex challenges of human society in peace, development, security, and governance, and facing the question of the times—"What is wrong with the world, and what should we do?"—we must firmly establish the grand view of history, base ourselves on a long-term, cross-civilizational, and holistic historical perspective, grasp the core logic and trends of the development of human society, and seek new governance paths with greater inclusiveness and synergy for jointly addressing global challenges.
Under the changes unseen in a century, facing global challenges, no country can remain aloof. Countries around the world need solidarity and cooperation more than ever before. The international community must abandon zero-sum thinking, transcend estrangement and conflict, and respond to the common concerns of mankind with great breadth of mind and great feelings. General Secretary Xi Jinping, from the overall height of world history and human development, profoundly pointed out: "The problems of the world are complex and intertwined. The way out of the problems is to uphold and practice multilateralism and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind." This provides a systematic practical plan through concrete actions. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the four major global initiatives are integrated and mutually reinforcing, contributing Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions, and Chinese strength to solving major human problems. Looking at history and reality, China's development is deeply integrated into the global system, and global common prosperity is equally inseparable from China's participation and contribution. The two are sharing the same fate and interests (休戚与共, xiu qi yu gong - "joy, sorrow, with, share") and inseparable and closely linked (密不可分, mi bu ke fen - "dense, not, can, divide"). When mankind once again stands at the crossroads of history, China's philosophy and social sciences must shoulder the historical mission of contributing intellectual strength to the cause of human progress. On the new journey of the new era, we must adhere to the subjectivity of Chinese culture, adhere to focusing on the common interests of mankind and responding to the common concerns of mankind, promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations with an attitude and breadth of mind of equality, inclusiveness, and possessing a broad mind that accepts all things (海纳百川, hai na bai chuan - "sea, accept, hundred, rivers"), actively build an international narrative that integrates China and foreign countries and is more inclusive, retell the unique contribution of Chinese civilization in the world knowledge system in a more open and diverse manner, demonstrate China's significant contribution to solving the common problems of human development, manifest Chinese concepts and Chinese wisdom in the exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations, and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction.
Standing at a new historical starting point, we must firmly establish the grand view of history, place ourselves in the long river of history and the global pattern, deeply promote the Two Integrations, propose corresponding strategies in grasping the mechanisms of evolution, enhance systematic foresight in exploring historical laws, grasp strategic initiative amid changes unseen in a century, strive to open up a new atmosphere for the flourishing development of philosophy and social sciences, and contribute more wisdom and strength to comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.
(The author is Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)
Return to TopBy: 温丽华
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "the entire Party must treat youth work as a strategic task, arm the youth with the Party's scientific theory, and rally the youth with the Party's original aspiration and founding mission." Young people are the fresh force for national rejuvenation, and doing a good job of theoretical outreach to youth is the core lever for implementing the strategic deployment of youth work. The youth group is intellectually active, cognitively diverse, and marked by pronounced circle-stratification characteristics, so theoretical outreach must closely follow the laws of youth development, coordinate efforts across the three dimensions of consolidating the ideological foundation, opening up communication channels, and achieving the foundation of identification, so as to make the Party's innovative theory resonate with young people's thinking, growth, and struggle, and truly arm the youth with the Party's scientific theory.
Consolidate the ideological foundation through precise interpretation. Young people live in a networked environment where diverse currents of thought interweave, and fragmented information can easily cause cognitive bias. The primary task of theoretical outreach is to preserve the theoretical source, strictly uphold the political orientation, clear away ideological fog with solid scholarly supply, and consolidate the value foundation for young people to move in the same direction and walk the same path as theory. Precise outreach is rooted in solid theoretical grounding. Theoretical outreach is by no means a simple restatement of policy provisions, but rather the dissemination of truth that runs through theoretical logic, historical logic, and practical logic. This requires outreach personnel to persist in reading original works, studying original texts, and comprehending principles, systematically master the Marxist stand, viewpoint, and method, and explain clearly the inner reasoning behind "why the Communist Party of China can do it, why Marxism works, and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good," helping young people strengthen their faith and enhance their identification from the theoretical root. Strictly guarding the political gate is an important prerequisite for precise outreach. Outreach content must strictly pass the political gate, the content gate, and the orientation gate, avoid one-sided interpretation, quoting out of context (断章取义, duan zhang qu yi - "break, chapter, take, meaning"), and entertainment-oriented expression, and ensure that every explanation conforms to the original intent of theory and the requirements of policy. In the face of ideological confusion and vague understanding that appears among the youth group, one should actively analyze and distinguish, provide positive guidance, rely on the power of truth to clear away ideological fog, consolidate value consensus, and help young people clarify their direction, hold the bottom line, and strengthen their resolve in theoretical study. At the same time, theoretical outreach must always closely follow the central overall situation, closely follow the central task of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation, guide young people to deeply grasp the mission of the times and their own responsibilities, consciously integrate personal ideals into the great cause of national development, and find their position, shoulder heavy burdens, and take the initiative to act on the new journey. Building a strong outreach team is the fundamental support for precise outreach. To build a professional outreach team that is politically reliable, theoretically solid, and close to young people, one cannot rely only on experts and scholars, but must also activate the main force of youth. Actively recruit college students, young industrial craftsmen, practitioners in new business forms, and young backbone cadres of rural revitalization to form stratified and categorized outreach teams, promote the "old leading new" master-apprentice cultivation model, give consideration to both experts' in-depth interpretation and peers' empathetic expression, interpret theory from a youth perspective and convey truth through youth stories, so that young people transform from passive listeners into theory disseminators, consolidating the team foundation for outreach to resonate with youth. Establish a cultivation mechanism of "experts leading study + backbone members conducting research + youth giving trial lectures," and routinely carry out collective lesson preparation, study and discussion, and exchange and mutual learning, so as to enhance outreach personnel's abilities in scholarly interpretation, policy interpretation, and ideological guidance.
Open up communication channels through youth-oriented expression. Young people in the new era are active in thinking, broad in vision, advocate equal exchange and pragmatic communication, and have low acceptance of one-way didactic outreach. To enhance the effectiveness of theoretical outreach to youth, it is necessary to promote the overall transformation of discourse style, communication scenarios, and expression forms, while at the same time conforming to young people's networked, circle-stratified, and interactive characteristics, and enhance youth participation through digital empowerment, scenario innovation, and other means, so that outreach becomes more approachable, more appealing, and more influential. Use "youth language and youth speech" to make theoretical outreach more vivid. Abandon rigid preaching and official clichés, actively adopt the youthful tone and everyday discourse familiar to young people, interpret major themes through small entry points, transform grand narratives into life and growth stories around young people, make more use of people around them, things around them, and reasoning around them, explain major policies through small stories, and show major development through small perspectives. Make more use of plain, straightforward, life-close language, find the intersection points between theory and young people's interests, emotions, and values, so that outreach is full of the flavor of everyday life and youthful texture, and truly achieves the goal that young people can understand it, are willing to listen to it, and find it resonant. Expand online and offline positions to make theoretical outreach more extensive. Step out of the fixed model of the closed meeting hall, extend outreach to university classrooms, enterprise workshops, community squares, and fields and farmland, so that theoretical study naturally integrates into young people's daily study, work, and life, and theoretical outreach changes from "speaking from the stage" to "chatting by one's side." Rely on digital means such as online seminars and virtual scenarios to build online outreach classrooms, promote outreach positions to closely follow young people's activity trajectories, and achieve the goal that wherever young people are, theoretical outreach follows. Skillfully use converged media to make theoretical outreach more dynamic. Based on the characteristics of young people's online behavior, coordinate the online platforms where young people gather, and create outreach content that is short, concise, and easy to disseminate. Respect the differences in youth circle culture, implement segmented communication for different interest communities, interpret theory with the discourse recognized by youth circles, and promote theory to break through barriers and go viral within youth circles. Activate the main role of youth, change "one-way listening" into "two-way interaction," invite young backbone members to participate in outreach planning and content creation, encourage young people to disseminate theory through creative forms, and in interactive co-creation make theoretical outreach "alive," "moving," and "trendy," so that it better conforms to young people's acceptance habits.
Gather the strength to strive through a practice orientation. The vitality of theoretical outreach lies in responding to problems and resolving confusion. Theoretical outreach to youth must adhere to a problem orientation and a demand orientation, and closely combine outreach with what young people think and feel, and their urgent difficulties and anxious concerns. Improve the mechanisms of long-term research, precise supply, and practical transformation, so that young people can take it in, put it to use, and gain something from it. Precisely grasping youth needs is the prerequisite for improving the pertinence of outreach. Establish a closed-loop mechanism of demand investigation, content iteration, and effect evaluation, conduct research in universities, enterprises, communities, and emerging youth groups, rely on big data to precisely grasp the ideological dynamics, cognitive characteristics, and real concerns of young people in different fields, carry out differentiated lesson preparation and precise interpretation for groups such as college students, young workers, youth in new business forms, and young backbone cadres of rural revitalization, and promote theoretical outreach to shift from "flood irrigation" to "precise drip irrigation." Directly facing youth concerns is the key to enhancing the persuasiveness of outreach. Closely focus on real issues of concern to young people such as academic development, employment and entrepreneurship, social integration, and rights protection in carrying out outreach, use the Party's innovative theory to analyze situations, interpret policies, and indicate directions, explain clearly the basic viewpoints, deep logic, and practical paths, win young people's trust with thorough reasoning and a pragmatic attitude, and let young people truly feel the practical significance and practical value of theory. Leading young people to integrate knowledge and action is the ultimate goal that demonstrates the effectiveness of outreach. Adhere to combining learning with application and promoting action through outreach, and guide young people to transform the results of theoretical study into practical actions for undertaking work and starting businesses. Integrate the struggle stories of youth models and grassroots pioneers into outreach, explain the mission and responsibility of youth in the new era, inspire young people to base themselves on their posts, work hard and take responsibility, and show youthful achievement in practices such as scientific and technological innovation, rural revitalization, social service, and making contributions at their posts. Build a platform for transforming outreach into practice, combine theoretical study with youth volunteer service, social practice, and on-the-job training, establish a routine mechanism for practical guidance, and let young people deepen their theoretical identification in the unity of learning, thinking, and application, and the integration of knowledge, belief, and action.
When youth thrive, the country thrives; when youth are strong, the country is strong. Doing a good job of theoretical outreach to youth in the new era carries a glorious mission and a heavy responsibility. Only by persisting in facing youth, being close to youth, and serving youth, and continuously enhancing the political leading force, scholarly persuasive force, emotional appeal, and practical penetrating force of outreach, can the Party's innovative theory better enter the hearts of youth, nourish youth, and lead youth, guide the broad masses of young people to unswervingly listen to the Party and follow the Party, and strive to grow into new people of the era capable of bearing the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation.
(The author is a special researcher at the Guangxi Medical University Base of the Guangxi Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project)
Return to TopBy: 刘璐
When General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke about ideological and work-style issues, he once cited an ancient admonition, pointing out that "if one avoids medical treatment for fear of the doctor, a minor illness may be dragged into a serious one. As the saying goes, 'stopping something while it is small is easy; saving the situation at the end is difficult.'" This serves to remind Party members and cadres that treating minor problems early is the way to prevent major disasters. The ancient admonition "stopping something while it is small is easy; saving the situation at the end is difficult" comes from the History of the Later Han, Biographies of Huan Rong and Ding Hong, and was advice offered by Ding Hong, a renowned official of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to Emperor He of Han. Its meaning is that when a problem has just begun to sprout, dealing with it is a simple matter, but by the time one waits until allowing a small problem to develop into a serious one (养痈成患, yang yong cheng huan - "nurture, abscess, become, ailment") before trying to save the situation, it is often extremely difficult and requires paying several times the cost. For Party members and cadres, whether it is holding the bottom line of discipline or doing practical work well, one must calculate clearly this critical account of "early" versus "late," putting effort into the "small" and showing real results in the "early," so as to avoid minor problems evolving into major errors and small oversights being dragged into major troubles.
Perceive the "small" before it has sprouted. The precondition for "stopping the small" is being able to see the "small," having the discernment to perceive the "small." Sima Xiangru once said: "The wise see far ahead before things sprout; the knowledgeable avoid danger before it takes shape." Calamity is easiest to handle when it is sprouting; the reason it is dragged into the tragedy of "saving the end" is often not that the problem is hidden deeply, but that people have become numb to the "small" in their thinking. In reality, this "numbness syndrome" is not uncommon. Some Party members and cadres pay no heed to what they consider their own "minor faults": a dinner invitation hard to decline is deemed "of no great consequence," a "small token" hard to refuse is treated as "a normal human courtesy," and a "breaking of the rules" done because one cannot save face is rationalized with "this is the last time." Many Party members and cadres stumble not because they begin from matters of great principle or fundamental truth (大是大非, da shi da fei - "big, is, big, non"), but because they lose ground step by step on small matters — from the unease of the "first time" to the calm of becoming accustomed to something through habit (习以为常, xi yi wei chang - "practice, as, think, usual"), from the probing of small favors or minor benefits (小恩小惠, xiao en xiao hui - "small, favor, small, benefit") to the numbness of accepting all offers or people without distinction (来者不拒, lai zhe bu ju - "come, person, not, refuse"). "When the moths are many, the wood breaks; when the crack is wide, the wall collapses." In the end, small errors brew into major mistakes, and minor ailments simmer into grave illnesses. Mao Zedong pointed out: "One must at all times grasp the progress of work, exchange experience, and correct errors; one must not wait several months, half a year, or even a year before holding a summing-up meeting to settle the general account and make a general correction. The losses from doing so are too great, whereas correcting at any time results in fewer losses." Problems cannot be accumulated, and faults cannot be dragged out; by the time one "settles the general account," the cost is often already beyond recovery. Of course, "stopping the small" does not mean having Party members and cadres tie their own hands and look forward and backward in undertaking work and building enterprises, but rather always maintaining a measure of clarity and self-restraint. With problems in one's eyes and reverence in one's heart, seeing the major hidden dangers behind minor problems, always remaining alert to small fluctuations in one's own thinking and small lapses in work style, not playing the "blind man with open eyes," resolving problems while they are still in the bud, knowing where to stop in one's conduct and achieving success in one's work.
Treat the "small" before it has erupted. If perceiving the "small" tests one's discernment, then treating the "small" tests one's sense of responsibility. Seeing a problem is not difficult; what is difficult is daring to speak frankly, daring to point it out, and daring to act. If minor improprieties are not checked, major improprieties will arise. A problem always has a process of growing from small to large; if one sees it but pretends not to, knows it is wrong yet thinks it better to say little, a small crack will split into a large hole. The Analects, Zilu says, "Friends should be earnest and forthright with one another." Even between friends there should be mutual admonition, and all the more so between comrades. Faced with problems and contradictions, one cannot be a "bystander" watching from the sidelines, still less a slick and worldly "good old fellow"; one must dare to take things seriously, dare to confront difficulties, and dare to offend people. Some Party members and cadres take protecting oneself by avoiding trouble or responsibility (明哲保身, ming zhe bao shen - "bright, wise, protect, self") as their cardinal rule: toward the deviations of superiors they merely echo and offer no opinions; toward the faults of peers they know full well yet keep silent; toward the errors of subordinates they treat lightly and fail to address the heart of a matter (隔靴搔痒, ge xue sao yang - "separate, boot, scratch, itch"). This appears to "maintain unity," but in reality it delays comrades and harms the cause. The ancients spoke of condoning or tolerating wrongdoing (姑息养奸, gu xi yang jian - "condone, nurture, treacherous"); unprincipled indulgence is precisely silent acquiescence to and connivance with error. The "ease" in "stopping the small is easy" means that when one sees things early and acts quickly in handling problems, the cost will be low and the results good; but this "ease" has never been achievable without effort — it must be underpinned by a sense of responsibility that disregards personal gain and loss. To "stop the small," one must dare to play the "stern face." Between comrades, what is needed is genuine help and genuine management. What is genuine help and genuine management? First, one must help and manage early. "Early" is the timing; sincerity must be shown in the word "early" — whether one genuinely helps a comrade is seen in whether one pulls him up in time when the problem first emerges. Second, one must help and manage constantly. "Constant" means making it the norm — not helping in a one-off manner, but reminding frequently and "tugging at the ear and pulling at the sleeve," making criticism and self-criticism a habit. Third, one must help and manage well. "Well" refers to the means; one must have both the intention to help and the art of helping. Between comrades, help must be accurate, hitting the nail on the head with a single remark (一语中的, yi yu zhong zhong - "one, word, hit, middle") and striking the vital point, not treating something in a vague or generalized manner (大而化之, da er hua zhi - "big, and, transform, that") and missing the point entirely; it must also be sincere, proceeding from public-mindedness and goodwill toward others, so that the other person hears care rather than accusation — only then is it genuine help and good help.
Guard against the "small" before it comes to pass. The highest realm of "stopping the small" is not keeping watch every day to find fault with people, but rather leaving no soil in which minor problems can grow. If perceiving the "small" tests one's discernment and treating the "small" tests one's sense of responsibility, then guarding against the "small" tests one's political consciousness. That Party members and cadres proactively guard against problems that have not yet taken shape relies not only on organizational requirements and disciplinary constraints, but even more on recognizing from the depths of one's heart that nipping problems in the bud and safeguarding the political ecosystem is the unshirkable political responsibility of Communists. Bai Juyi said: "Those skilled at removing harm examine its root; those skilled at curing illness sever its source." To prevent illness before it arises, the most fundamental thing is still to treat the disease by seeking its root, to rectify the source and purify the origin, and to put effort into "treating the root." "Stopping the small" and "saving the end" appear to be merely a matter of handling an incident early or late, but in reality they reflect the strength or weakness of the self-revolution spirit of Party members and cadres. The reason the Party is great lies not in never making mistakes, but in always maintaining the political courage of self-purification. If the political life within a Party organization is serious and rigorous, and the relations between comrades are clean and clear, making mutual reminders and mutual supervision a habit, then many minor faults will be dissolved into nothing while still in the bud, and will never develop to the point of "saving the end." "Saving the end" saves a calamity that has already been wrought and pays a relatively heavy cost, whereas "guarding against the small" guards against tendencies that have not yet grown large and protects a political ecosystem of clean and upright conduct. One must do a good job of regularly assessing the political ecosystem, regularly analyzing the ecological conditions of one's own organization — which cadres have received reports, which posts carry high risk — so as to have a clear picture in mind. Integrate information from letters and visits reporting misconduct, inspection tours, audit supervision, daily assessment, democratic life meetings, and other channels, regularly sort through and comprehensively assess it, discovering the general from the individual and identifying the patterns from the general. Leading cadres must not only be cautious about the small themselves and proactively manage the small, but must also set the tone and establish rules — taking the lead in making political life within the Party serious and rigorous, and taking the lead in carrying out criticism and self-criticism. Between "stopping the small" and "saving the end," what differs is not only timing, but also a sense of responsibility; between the bystander and the participant, what separates them is not only attitude, but also Party spirit. The best "saving the end" is to make the "end" impossible in the first place; rather than sighing and wringing one's hands afterward, it is better to take things seriously and confront difficulties beforehand. Every Party member and cadre who puts "stopping the small" into practice is providing the best protection for oneself, the most genuine help for one's comrades, and the greatest responsibility for the cause.
Return to TopQuestion: Zhu Hongjun, Party Secretary of Anhui University of Finance and Economics
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has powerfully driven economic development, but has also brought profound impacts on employment and income distribution, including some negative effects, which require effective response and resolution. In his 1845 book The Condition of the Working Class in England, Engels, through personal investigation, described the phenomenon during the Industrial Revolution in which productive forces leapt forward while workers remained impoverished. This phenomenon has been termed the "Engels Pause" by economic historians. The question is: how should we understand and respond to the social equity issues brought by technological change?
Interpretation: Zhou Wen, Distinguished Professor at Fudan University
Looking back on the history of industrial civilization, the special social phenomenon Engels discovered while investigating the British Industrial Revolution provides us with a classic theoretical paradigm for examining the dialectical relationship between technological progress and society. In the early Industrial Revolution, steam engine technology drove making rapid, significant progress (跨越式, kuayue shi - "leap, cross") in social productive forces and rapid accumulation of total social wealth, but ordinary workers' real income and quality of life remained making no progress or staying stagnant (停滞不前, tingzhi bu qian - "stop, not, move, forward") for a long period. Technological dividends were highly concentrated toward capital, and the laboring masses were reduced to passive bearers of the pressure of technological progress. In 2009, British economic historian Robert Allen defined this phenomenon as the "Engels Pause." In essence, the "Engels Pause" is the inevitable product of technological breakthroughs outpacing institutional adaptation and of productive forces transformation being misaligned with production relations adjustment. Its core manifestation is a phased disconnection between technological growth and improvement of people's livelihoods and social equity, and it is the concentrated expression of technological alienation in social distribution, class structure, and labor relations.
In the era of artificial intelligence, the speed of technological iteration, the breadth of penetration, and the depth of transformation far exceed those of previous industrial revolutions. The traditional "Engels Pause" has not retreated; rather, it has been iteratively reconstructed in a new digitalized and intelligent form, exhibiting risk characteristics that are more hidden, more complex, and more long-lasting. At present, the AI industry is expanding at high speed and technological capabilities continue to break through, but problems such as insufficient universal sharing of technological dividends, intensifying employment structure imbalances, intensifying competition over technological sovereignty, and prominent hidden ethical risks are gradually emerging, potentially forming an "Engels Pause" in AI development. Deeply grasping the generative logic, realistic manifestations, and risk mechanisms of the "Engels Pause" in the AI era, and—grounded in safeguarding technological sovereignty and avoiding technological traps—exploring resolution paths that balance innovation-driven development with risk prevention and control, and efficiency improvement with equity and universal benefit, is a major issue of our times for promoting safe, orderly, and sustainable AI development and realizing technology serving good and benefiting the people.
The "Engels Pause" in Technological Change and the New Features of AI Development
Technology is inherently a tool for humanity to transform nature and liberate itself, a positive force for social progress. The ultimate value of technological development is to serve the comprehensive development of human beings and promote overall social progress. However, in scenarios where capital logic dominates, institutional constraints are absent, and value guidance is lacking, technology can escape human control (脱离人的掌控, tuoli ren de zhangkong - "depart, person, control"), becoming alienated into an alien force that dominates workers, exacerbates social division, and erodes social order—this is the core meaning of technological alienation. In The Condition of the Working Class in England, Engels precisely depicted the picture of technological alienation during the Industrial Revolution: after machine-based mass production replaced manual labor, productive forces leapt upward, and capitalists, relying on technological monopoly and ownership of the means of production, rapidly accumulated wealth, while ordinary workers were fixed in single positions on assembly lines, with increased labor intensity, loss of labor autonomy, slow growth in real wages, and continuous deterioration of living conditions. Nearly all the dividends brought by technological progress were exclusively enjoyed by capital owners, while the broad masses of workers could not share in the fruits of technological development, forming a development gap of "productive forces growing while people's livelihoods stagnate"—this is the original form of the "Engels Pause."
The "Engels Pause" in technological change is not a defect of technology itself, but rather a structural imbalance between productive forces and production relations, and between technological innovation and social equity, caused by the speed of technological development outstripping the adaptation speed of social institutions, distribution systems, and governance systems. In the early First Industrial Revolution, machine-based mass production rapidly widened the distribution gap between capital and labor, with workers' income growth seriously lagging behind the accumulation of social wealth and inequality deteriorating sharply. During the Second Industrial Revolution, returns on investment in intangible assets such as technological knowledge and organizational management continued to rise, the weight of skills in income distribution grew increasingly heavy, and the wealth gap did not naturally narrow with improvements in production efficiency. The Third Industrial Revolution gave rise to a "U-shaped" polarization of employment and wage inequality: high-skilled workers saw rapid growth in income and employment opportunities, low-skilled workers barely maintained their position, while the middle-skilled group experienced stagnant wage growth and continuously shrinking employment opportunities. At present, cutting-edge technologies such as AI are iterating and being applied at an accelerating pace. While raising productivity, they also bring challenges such as changes in employment structure, and are bringing deep transformations to the production methods, lifestyles, and governance methods of human society, with a real risk that the dividends of technological growth will be mainly concentrated toward capital.
Compared with traditional technological revolutions, AI has fundamentally changed the composition of factors of production. Computing power, algorithms, and data have replaced land, labor, and traditional capital to become the most core production resources, and technological barriers, data monopolies, and algorithmic hegemony have thereby become new symbols of power. In the past, wealth gaps mainly stemmed from differences in ownership of the means of production; today, development gaps depend more on the ability to control technological sovereignty, the distribution of data resources, and the dominant power over algorithmic rules. It is precisely this change that has given rise to the new form of the "Engels Pause" in the AI era: technological productive forces are growing exponentially and overall social efficiency continues to improve, but ordinary workers' employment rights and interests, development space, and share of returns are continuously shrinking. Special groups face digital exclusion and intelligent elimination, while at the national level there are systemic risks such as technological "strangulation" and loss of sovereignty. Development stagnation and imbalance are simultaneously manifesting at the individual, social, and national levels.
The Generative Logic of the "Engels Pause" in the AI Era
The "Engels Pause" that technological change in the AI era may bring is not an accidental phenomenon caused by a single factor, but rather the inevitable result of the interweaving and interaction of multiple factors: technological attributes, capital logic, institutional shortcomings, governance lag, and the global landscape.
The contradiction between the autonomy of technological iteration and the passivity of human control. Unlike the instrumental nature of traditional technologies, AI possesses the capabilities of deep learning, autonomous iteration, and adaptive evolution, greatly increasing the uncertainty and unpredictability of technological development. The operational logic of traditional technologies is entirely set by humans and fully controllable throughout the process, whereas AI—especially general artificial intelligence—can break through initial settings through training on massive data, forming an operational system of autonomous decision-making and autonomous optimization, making it difficult for humans to fully predict and precisely control its evolutionary direction. This increase in technological autonomy breaks the traditional paradigm of "humans dominate technology, technology serves humans," greatly increasing the risk of technological alienation. Various technological traps exhibit hidden, sudden, and diffusive characteristics, and governance difficulty far exceeds that of traditional technological fields.
The contradiction between capital's profit-seeking expansionism and technology's value of serving good. Capital's natural attribute is the pursuit of profit maximization, and AI technology's high added value and high growth potential make it the core track for capital's profit-seeking. At present, in the development of the AI industry, the logic of capital dominating technological R&D, deployment, and distribution is increasingly prominent. Some enterprises take efficiency maximization and profit maximization as their core goals, ignoring technology's public, universal-benefit, and safety attributes. To reduce costs and increase returns, capital continuously promotes "replacing humans with machines," compressing the space for labor employment. By monopolizing core technologies and data resources, it extracts excess profits and exacerbates distribution imbalances. To seize market share, it excessively accelerates technology deployment while ignoring ethical risks and safety hazards. The excessive expansion of capital logic distorts the ultimate value of AI in serving society and benefiting people's livelihoods, becoming the core driver of the "Engels Pause" and the breeding ground of technological traps.
The contradiction between dependence on core technologies and the autonomy of technological sovereignty. The core of technological sovereignty is independent and controllable core technologies. Without autonomy in underlying technologies, there can be no autonomy in industrial development, let alone autonomy in national technological security. At present, the global AI industry landscape is characterized by head-enterprise monopoly and a divide between strong and weak. Developed countries, relying on their technological advantages in underlying algorithms, high-end chips, and core computing power, have built technological monopoly systems and hold the power to set rules and standards discourse in the global intelligent industry. China's AI industry has notable advantages in the application and scenario layers, but has shortcomings in the foundational and core layers, with technological dependence in key areas and insufficient capacity for independent control of core technologies. This technological landscape leaves China's intelligent industry in a passive follow-the-leader state, with technological innovation constrained by external factors and industrial dividends diluted by external monopoly capital, making it difficult to completely escape the predicament of technological dependence and outflow of benefits, and continuously solidifying the development stagnation of "prosperous applications, weak core."
The contradiction between the lag of institutional governance and the advance of technological development. The adaptation speed of the institutional governance system directly determines the degree of universal sharing of technological dividends and the strength of prevention and control of technological risks. The iteration speed and scenario expansion speed of AI technology far exceed those of traditional technologies, while China's laws and regulations, ethical norms, regulatory systems, distribution systems, and talent cultivation systems in the AI field are still in the stage of improvement, with a clear lag in institutional supply. The existing legal system finds it difficult to cover new issues such as copyright of AI-generated content, governance of deepfakes, and definition of algorithmic responsibility. The regulatory model remains primarily ex-post and passive, making it difficult to meet the risk governance needs of ex-ante prevention and whole-process prevention and control. The distribution system has not effectively regulated the profit distribution pattern of the intelligent industry, and the institutional mechanisms for protecting labor rights and interests and sharing digital dividends are incomplete. The talent cultivation system cannot keep up with the speed of technological iteration, and the capacity of the labor force to adapt through transformation is insufficient. The lag in institutional adaptation leaves technological development in a state of "no rules to follow, no constraints to bind," with risks continuously accumulating and imbalances continuously intensifying.
The contradiction between the monopolistic nature of resource distribution and the fairness of inclusive development. Data, computing power, and algorithms, as the core production factors of the intelligent era, should inherently possess public and universal-benefit attributes and serve the development needs of the whole society. But at present, core intelligent resources are highly concentrated in leading technology enterprises, developed cities, and high-end industries, with resource distribution showing obvious monopolistic and centralized characteristics. Data resources are monopolized by enterprises, data silos and data barriers are widespread, and public data opening and sharing are insufficient; high-end computing power resources are concentrated in a few regions and enterprises, with insufficient computing power supply for small and medium-sized enterprises and grassroots fields; high-quality algorithm technologies are controlled by leading institutions, making it difficult for ordinary enterprises to obtain low-cost, inclusive intelligent technology services. The imbalance in the distribution of core production factors directly leads to imbalance in the distribution of technological dividends, further widening regional, industrial, and group gaps, and exacerbating social division and development stagnation in the AI era.
Pathways to Resolving the "Engels Pause" in the AI Era
Confronting the "Engels Pause" in the AI era does not mean denying the development value of AI, but rather discarding the one-sided perceptions of technological omnipotence and technological laissez-faire, adhering to dialectical and systematic thinking, and—while encouraging innovation and enabling development—building a solid defense line against risks, filling the shortcomings in equity, and safeguarding technological sovereignty, so as to promote high-quality development of AI that is innovative, safe and controllable, inclusive and equitable, and oriented toward good and order.
Adhere to self-reliance and self-strengthening, and build a solid foundation for technological sovereignty. Technological sovereignty is the fundamental support for breaking external technological monopoly and escaping the passive development situation, and the core prerequisite for resolving systemic risks of AI. Grounded in the strategic goal of high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology, leveraging the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources, focusing on "strangulation" core areas such as high-end chips, underlying algorithms, core computing power, and basic frameworks, increasing investment in basic research and original innovation, breaking through underlying technological bottlenecks, and building an independent, controllable, safe, and efficient core technology system for AI, we must completely reverse the pattern of dependence on underlying technologies. Coordinate the innovation layout of the AI industry, balance the relationship between application-layer innovation and foundational-layer innovation, and between scenario deployment and technological breakthroughs, avoid the development misconception of emphasizing applications over foundations and scale over core capabilities, and promote the transformation of the AI industry from scale expansion to quality improvement and core upgrading. Improve the technological innovation incentive mechanism, perfect the intellectual property protection system, encourage small and medium-sized enterprises and research institutions to participate in tackling core technological problems, build a diversified, collaborative, open, and innovative industrial ecosystem, firmly grasp the initiative and discourse power in AI development, and resolve the technological sovereignty trap at its root.
Improve the institutional system and build a precise governance framework. To adapt to the rapid development trend of AI, it is necessary to accelerate the filling of institutional shortcomings and build a modern governance system of "innovation incentives, risk prevention and control, clear rights and responsibilities, and whole-process control," achieving synchronization between technological innovation and institutional governance. Accelerate the construction of the AI legal system, focusing on prominent issues such as algorithmic discrimination, deepfakes, data abuse, copyright infringement, and privacy leakage, improve special laws, regulations, and industry norms, clarify the rights and responsibility boundaries, behavioral bottom lines, and accountability mechanisms of various subjects, so that AI development has rules to follow and standards to abide by. Innovate regulatory models, build a whole-chain regulatory system of ex-ante prevention, in-process control, and ex-post accountability, use big data, AI, and other technological means to achieve "governing technology with technology," and enhance the precision, timeliness, and intelligence level of regulation. Improve industry self-discipline mechanisms, guide technology enterprises and research institutions to establish the development concept of intelligent technology serving good, strengthen primary responsibility, consciously regulate technology R&D, product deployment, and algorithm application behavior, and build a multi-stakeholder co-governance pattern of government regulation, industry self-discipline, social supervision, and enterprise self-governance, effectively preventing and resolving various technological risks and ethical traps.
Optimize distribution mechanisms and promote universal sharing of dividends. In response to the distribution paradox of "capital benefits, labor suffers" in the intelligent era, it is necessary to deepen reform of the income distribution system, reconstruct the dividend distribution pattern of the AI era, and let the fruits of technological development benefit all the people more and more fairly. Improve the mechanism for factors of production such as labor, data, technology, and capital to participate in distribution, reasonably increase the proportion of distribution to the labor factor, regulate the order of capital income distribution, curb the excess monopoly profits of head capital, and balance the relationship between capital returns and labor returns. Improve the income adjustment mechanism for the intelligent industry, and through tax adjustment, industrial funds, public welfare empowerment, and other means, guide the dividends of the intelligent industry to tilt toward grassroots levels, special groups, and underdeveloped regions. Improve the labor rights and interests protection system, and in response to the employment structure changes brought by AI, improve unemployment protection, vocational training, and employment assistance mechanisms, build platforms for empowering workers' transformation, carry out normalized and targeted digital skills and intelligent technology training, help traditional workers adapt to industrial transformation needs, alleviate structural unemployment pressure, and hold the bottom line of people's livelihoods and employment.
Strengthen ethical regulation and hold fast to the bottom line of intelligent technology serving good. Always adhere to the core value orientation of people-centeredness and intelligent technology serving good, run ethical regulation through the entire process of AI R&D, design, deployment, and iteration, and curb technological alienation at its source. Build an AI ethics system with Chinese characteristics, grounded in the core socialist values, clarify the ethical norms, value orientations, and red-line boundaries of AI development, and eliminate problems such as algorithmic discrimination, value deviation, and technology abuse. Establish an AI ethics review mechanism, conduct ex-ante ethics review of major intelligent technology R&D and key intelligent product deployment, and avoid ethical and social risks at the source. Regulate the application of new technologies such as generative AI and deep synthesis, severely crack down on violations such as false information, infringement and plagiarism, and malicious forgery, and maintain order in cyberspace, cultural creation, and public society. Always adhere to the ultimate value of "technology serving humanity," eliminate the alienated pattern of technology overriding humanity and capital dominating technology, and keep AI developing in the direction of benefiting the people, serving the people, serving good, and maintaining order.
Return to TopBy: 颜志煌
Comprehensive marine governance is an important safeguard for building a maritime power and a vital component of the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance. During his work in Fujian, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized focusing on the two priorities of comprehensive marine development and comprehensive marine management, and adhering to the principle of placing equal emphasis on development and protection. At the beginning of the 21st century, the concept formed on the basis of Fujian's maritime governance — "wherever economic development reaches, safeguard work follows; wherever public security hotspots arise, management work follows; wherever the people need, service work follows" — embodies the governance wisdom of grassroots practice and is a vivid application of adhering to a systematic approach, highlighting a problem-oriented mindset, and deeply cultivating a people-centered sentiment. In recent years, Fujian has continuously promoted the "three follow-ups" as a systematic strategy for comprehensive marine governance in the new era, exploring paths to enhance the effectiveness of marine governance with Chinese characteristics, and promoting the organic unity of high-quality development of the marine economy, high-level security, and high-quality livelihood for the people.
Safeguards follow development, consolidating the foundation for making steady progress and achieving long-term success (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "walk steadily, reach far") in the marine economy. The ocean is a treasure trove of resources and strategic space supporting future development. The fundamental purpose of marine governance is to ensure the sustainable development of the marine economy. Governance and safeguards share value and mutually reinforce functions; the key lies in firmly establishing an overall awareness of the modern marine economy, adhering to governance concepts such as innovation-led development, land-sea coordination, green and low-carbon growth, efficient synergy, and safety and controllability, promoting the resonance of service safeguards with marine economic development, and injecting stable expectations into marine economic growth. Adhere to driving the transformation and upgrading of the marine economy with new quality productive forces. Proactively adapt to new trends in marine economic development, focus on promoting the transformation of the marine economy from scale expansion to quality and efficiency gains, and guide the marine science and technology revolution and industrial transformation. With forward-looking and systematic thinking, build the "Minhai Science and Technology Innovation Ark — Future Marine Innovation Center" as a new type of offshore platform, open up and expand demonstration application scenarios such as satellite-sea interconnection, unmanned vessels, the marine low-altitude economy, and intelligent aquaculture in deep and distant seas, construct a "one site, multiple zones" national comprehensive marine testing ground for new marine energy, explore the promotion of "computing power entering the sea," and demonstrate governance effectiveness in seizing new tracks in the marine industry. Adhere to driving the transformation of governance effectiveness through major projects. Strengthen safeguards for strategic, leading, and landmark major marine projects, promote the transformation of governance effectiveness into project development quality and efficiency, and deeply embed it into the entire process of project generation, implementation, and operation. Build a linked and integrated development model for land-sea industrial chains, use high-tech marine industry clusters as carriers, and advance demonstration projects such as marine new energy, marine new infrastructure, and seabed observation networks in key areas including cross-strait comprehensive marine surveys, the new round of national marine economic development demonstration zone construction, and the integrated development of sea areas, islands, and bays. Adhere to strengthening governance function safeguards through policy coordination. Deeply understand the functions of marine governance at the levels of policy orientation and resource utilization, focus on removing institutional obstacles and external risks to marine economic development, and establish an efficient and coordinated safeguard system covering the entire process from planning guidance, unified allocation of factors, approval coordination, to construction escort. Improve the promotion mechanism for marine economic development, innovate an integrated support system of "regulations + policies + mechanisms," optimize the business environment, and deepen inclusive and prudent regulation. Build a "strengthening enterprises and benefiting fisheries" monitoring platform for key marine economy projects, achieving full aggregation of policies, "automatic enjoyment without application," and precise delivery.
Governance follows hotspots, building a solid line of defense for maritime security and stability. Governance resilience requires breaking through inertial thinking, establishing dynamic response interfaces, and building a modern governance system featuring forward-looking prediction, dynamic adaptation, and two-way synchronization. Integrate marine governance into the entire process of marine development, utilization, and protection, enhance the foresight, holism, and synergy of marine governance, resolve conflicts through development, and optimize governance through service. Adhere to shifting the focus downward and precisely responding to difficulties in maritime governance. In the face of the uncertainty of maritime risks, promote the precise investment of limited resources and forces into maritime governance hotspots, difficulties, and hidden risks. Pioneering the establishment of a "one maritime team for law enforcement" mechanism, coordinating the performance of regulatory and law enforcement functions such as the development of sea areas and islands, fishery production safety supervision, and marine ecological protection. Deepen the safety rectification of maritime vessels, and innovatively follow up on the regulation of new business forms such as offshore wind power, marine tourism, uninhabited island tourism, and fishing raft catering. Deepen the "every vessel must be inspected" mechanism, strengthen the awareness that "offline means an alarm" for shipborne BeiDou positioning terminals, and build a resilient barrier for coordinating development and security. Adhere to reform first and empower governance modernization with digital intelligence. Promote an all-round innovation in governance thinking and build a new agile governance logic. Highlight the comprehensive empowerment of digital intelligence, break down "data chimneys" and "information islands," build a high-standard, integrated, and deeply converged "Maritime Fujian" general platform, integrate application functions such as whole-domain perception, digital twins, and intelligent analysis, and build a precise network for marine disaster warning, ecological simulation, and security risk perception. Promote the improvement of grassroots governance effectiveness, implement the "hundred stations, thousand personnel, ten thousand vessels" safety and intelligence improvement project, explore high-tech applications such as the "Minhai Flying Swallow" unmanned aerial vehicle emergency rescue, build a marine digital foundation that is unified in standards, elastically scalable, and safe and reliable, and promote the leap of marine governance toward intelligence and refinement. Adhere to mechanism innovation and build a new pattern of diversified co-governance. Strengthen the optimization and iteration of governance mechanisms and establish a diversified empowerment and supervision model. Comprehensively apply market, legal, and technological means, guide multi-departmental coordination and multi-stakeholder participation, and promote the evolution from departmental fragmentation to collaborative co-governance. Improve positive incentive and reverse constraint mechanisms, advance the standardization, normalization, professionalization, and regularization of maritime law enforcement teams, and achieve the integration and synergy of policies, resources, and actions. Innovate the "five seas and one border" cross-departmental law enforcement collaboration mechanism, build joint maritime law enforcement service stations in key fishing areas with public security, coast guard, and other agencies, and create a new model of integrated production safety supervision and service. Consolidate governance achievements through institutional innovation and maintain order in maritime production safety.
Services follow needs, practicing the value pursuit of harmonious coexistence between people and the sea. The fundamental stance of marine governance is to achieve harmony between people and the sea and sustainable development. Adhere to the unity of instrumental and value rationality in governance, based on the construction of Maritime Fujian, establish a demand-driven diversified supply orientation for government services, and use the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security as the yardstick. Stay close to people's livelihood and well-being, and sincerely handle matters around fishermen. Livelihood services have the characteristics of being public, inclusive, and providing a safety net. Adhere to keeping the urgent and pressing needs of the people (急难愁盼, ji nan chou pan - "urgent, difficult, anxious, longing") of fishermen at heart, focus on core needs such as fishermen's livelihoods, safety guarantees, and skill improvement, extend services to every corner where fishermen need them, and fill service gaps in islands and remote fishing villages. Innovate the "government-court linkage" mechanism for jointly building a rule-of-law maritime system, diversify the mediation and resolution of grassroots maritime disputes, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people. Build an efficient and coordinated maritime emergency command system, deepen the integrated development of marine meteorology, develop inclusive fishery insurance, and weave a tight safety net for fishery production safety. Accelerate the green transformation, turning blue seas and silver beaches into gold mountains and silver mountains. Marine ecology highlights the attribute of livelihood equity, and accelerate the transformation of marine ecology into tangible and accessible development dividends. Build "Fuhai Granary" marine ranches, develop environmentally friendly deep and distant sea fishing grounds, and continuously meet the people's growing demand for high-quality aquatic protein. Implement ecological renovation of mariculture facilities to free up more ecological space for nearshore areas. Adhere to protecting the marine ecology with the strictest systems and the most forceful measures, implement summer fishing moratoriums, carry out stock enhancement and release of aquatic organisms, develop carbon sink fisheries, strengthen blue carbon judicial protection and ecological governance, and open up the transformation path where blue seas and silver beaches are gold mountains and silver mountains. Accelerate the construction of beautiful fishing villages along the entire coastline, promoting increased fishery efficiency, fishing area revitalization, and common prosperity for fishermen. Promote openness and inclusiveness, and deeply participate in global marine governance. Practice the concept of a maritime community with a shared future, enhance an international perspective, strictly implement global marine ecological protection requirements, strengthen the implementation of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement) and local responsibilities for marine governance. Help promote the establishment of the BBNJ Agreement secretariat in Xiamen, and actively participate in global maritime affairs. Based on the Taiwan Strait, radiating along the Maritime Silk Road, and facing the world, build an international hub for marine science and technology industry exchange and docking, provide more inclusive and high-quality marine public services, create high-quality sea-friendly spaces, and build a new order of harmonious coexistence between people and the sea.
(The author is Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director General of the Fujian Provincial Department of Ocean and Fisheries)
Return to TopAt present, artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs — known as the "new, new three items" — are developing rapidly and are expected to form new pillar industries. The cumulative global downloads of China's open-source large models for artificial intelligence have exceeded 10 billion; in the first half of this year, China's industrial robot export value reached 6.29 billion yuan, with products sold to 141 countries and regions worldwide; in the first half of the year, the value of outbound licensing deals for China's innovative drugs reached approximately 110 billion US dollars, with Chinese pharmaceutical companies occupying 8 of the top 10 slots in the global pharmaceutical transaction rankings.
The rapid development of the "new, new three items" cannot be separated from the support of financial forces. The "new, new three items" feature high early-stage R&D investment, high knowledge intensity, and high technical barriers, which place new demands on supporting financial services. As a large state-owned commercial bank, Bank of Communications (hereinafter referred to as BOCOM) leverages its advantages in comprehensive operations with a full license portfolio, building an integrated financial service system covering equity, loans, bonds, leasing, and custody, and continuously provides financial support for the accelerated development of the "new, new three items" through professional, efficient, and customized service solutions. BOCOM continues to strengthen marketing services and supporting resource allocation for key projects under "going global" and the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, providing customized financing services for customer groups with advantageous resources and industrial chain synergy advantages. In the first half of this year, the cross-border finance basic customer base grew by 12.61% year-on-year.
Injecting vitality into R&D funds, safeguarding autonomous driving's maintaining steady and long-term progress (行稳致远, xing wen zhi yuan - "walk, steady; go, far")
On the streets of Guangzhou, where traffic flows interweave, autonomous vehicles from WeRide steadily shuttle citizens to their destinations. As a local sci-tech innovation enterprise in the Greater Bay Area, WeRide has built a general autonomous driving technology platform, deployed unmanned equipment across multiple scenarios including mobility, freight, and sanitation, holds over a thousand items of independent intellectual property rights, and its autonomous driving fleet has exceeded 3,000 vehicles, having obtained operating licenses in 8 countries worldwide.
Behind the steadily advancing commercialization are sustained R&D investment and substantial funding needs. BOCOM Guangdong Branch prospectively assessed the development potential of the autonomous driving industry, proactively reached out to the enterprise, opened a window for domestic debt financing cooperation, tailored a phased credit drawdown plan for it, and provided nearly 100 million yuan in short-term working capital loans, effectively alleviating the enterprise's funding pressure at critical junctures.
With financial assistance, the pace of the enterprise's development continues to accelerate, gradually completing the closed loop from technical validation to commercial monetization.
Finance and sci-tech innovation have never been two parallel lines, but rather fellow travelers advancing side by side. A relevant person in charge of BOCOM Guangdong Branch stated that it will continue to deepen technology finance, proactively lay out future industries, continuously improve full-cycle comprehensive financial services, and help technology enterprises race at full speed and maintain steady and long-term progress in global competition.
Solving the financing difficulties of asset-light operations, helping robots accelerate their global expansion
From multiple humanoid robots competing on the same stage at the Spring Festival Gala, performing "backflips," intelligent interaction, and other "stunning feats," to "embodied intelligence" once again being written into the Government Work Report and becoming a hot topic at this year's "two sessions," with technological breakthroughs and policy support working in tandem, China's robotics industry is accelerating at a fast pace.
Changsha Huaheng Robot System Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise that was among the earliest in China to engage in the R&D and manufacturing of welding automation equipment. It is currently at a critical stage of stable capacity expansion and rapid growth in domestic and overseas orders, with concentrated and diverse funding needs. In response to the enterprise's characteristics of "asset-light operations and lack of collateral," BOCOM Liuyang Sub-branch broke through the traditional limitation of relying on collateral for credit, innovatively launched international guarantee services, simultaneously implemented pure credit loan products, and provided it with 40 million yuan in comprehensive credit, precisely matching the enterprise's full-cycle funding needs and injecting strong momentum into the enterprise's capacity expansion and overseas market development.
The enterprise's person in charge stated that BOCOM's financial support has given the enterprise more confidence to expand into global markets, the enterprise's capacity expansion project has been smoothly implemented, and domestic and overseas orders continue to grow.
In recent years, BOCOM Hunan Branch has continuously increased investment in hard technology, having served over 10,000 technology-based enterprises. The branch adheres to investing early, investing small, investing long-term, and investing in hard technology, providing one-stop financial services for R&D, capacity expansion, and cross-border contract performance for robotics and high-end equipment enterprises, helping domestic embodied intelligence robots go global and open up world markets.
Matching long-cycle funding needs, empowering the intelligent manufacturing upgrade of innovative drugs
Stepping into the "AI + computing power" intelligent factory for injections of Jinan Keyuan Pharmaceutical & Liniu Pharmaceutical, the modern production lines are in perfect order (秩序井然, xu zhi jing ran - "order, well; well, arranged"), with two core production lines neatly arranged and the connecting tracks between equipment clean and tidy. The newly completed digital-intelligent workshop for Liniu Pharmaceutical injections has completed equipment joint commissioning and is ready for production.
In the early stages of construction, this "factory of the future" faced considerable funding pressure. The total investment in the intelligent manufacturing project for injections reached 537 million yuan, with a long construction cycle, precise and expensive equipment, and extremely high compliance thresholds. Traditional short-term loans found it difficult to match the long cycle from construction to production for pharmaceutical enterprises.
BOCOM Shandong Branch keenly detected the enterprise's demands during its research. In response to the pharmaceutical industry's characteristics of "heavy investment and slow returns," it tailored a 230 million yuan fixed asset loan service plan for the enterprise. During the critical period of the project, the bank team repeatedly went deep into the project's production workshops, conducted on-site coordination with the enterprise's technical and financial personnel, precisely calculated funding needs, and optimized the loan disbursement pace.
From credit approval to the efficient implementation of the first loan disbursement, BOCOM provided key funding support for the enterprise to race against the schedule and ensure production, and actively applied for fiscal interest subsidies for the enterprise in accordance with policies, providing a solid financial backing. After the project goes into production, it can produce 100 million units of high-end injections annually, with an expected annual output value of 2 billion yuan, achieving fully automated unmanned transfer and data traceability throughout the process, and the enterprise's production efficiency will achieve a leapfrog improvement.
In order to comprehensively unblock financial bottlenecks in the pharmaceutical industry chain, BOCOM Shandong Branch integrates diversified resources such as leasing, trust, and investment to build a "1+N" comprehensive financial service matrix. For start-up sci-tech pharmaceutical enterprises, it has launched "Sci-Tech Qilu Loans" and "Sci-Tech Talent Loans," relying on big data risk control models to provide up to 20 million yuan in pure credit facilities, with preferential interest rates and flexible borrowing and repayment; supplemented by M&A loans with terms of up to 10 years, it helps industry leaders carry out diversified businesses such as asset integration and industrial M&A, comprehensively empowering the coordinated development of the biopharmaceutical industry chain.
(Bank of Communications)
Return to TopSince the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the protection of the marine ecological environment, emphasizing the need to make up our minds to take measures, make every effort to curb the trend of continuous deterioration of the marine ecological environment, and bring about a marked improvement in China's marine ecological environment; we must pay more attention to the harmony between humans and the sea, coordinate the development and protection of marine resources, build a sustainable marine ecological environment, and form a new pattern of positive interaction (良性互动, liang xing hu dong - "good, kind, positive; benefit, virtue; interact") between humans and the sea. Centering on building a sustainable marine ecological environment, the Study Times high-end think tank edition has launched an in-depth discussion.
Return to TopBy: 王菊英
The ocean is a strategic frontier for high-quality development and a key domain for expanding new development space and nurturing new quality productive forces. General Secretary Xi Jinping has always kept the ocean close to his heart. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he has successively put forward a series of important expositions, including "to care for the ocean as one cares for life," "to build a major pattern of protection and governance extending from mountain tops to the ocean," and "to promote high-quality development of the marine economy and blaze a path of seeking strength from the ocean with Chinese characteristics," providing fundamental guidance for the governance of the ocean. Adhering to land-sea coordination and continuously enhancing the capacity for ocean governance is not only a strong support for building the new development pattern and expanding the depth of economic development, but also an important foundation for realizing the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. Land-sea coordination is not merely a development concept; it is an important national strategy for promoting high-quality development of the marine economy and building a maritime power.
The essence of land-sea coordination is to abandon the traditional mindset of separating land from sea and to regard coastal zone areas as a complete social-economic-natural composite ecosystem in which land and sea interact and are interdependent. The problems of the marine ecological environment are "manifested at sea, but rooted on land." The ocean is the ultimate destination of all water systems on Earth. According to statistics, about 80% of the pollution in China's offshore waters comes from land-based sources. To govern the sea, one must first govern the rivers; to govern the rivers, one must link governance of the land. Establishing a land-sea coordination mechanism and promoting whole-chain, integrated governance from river basins to bays is an inevitable choice for cutting off the sources of pollution and restoring the health of marine ecosystems, and it is also a key path for supporting new drivers of marine economic development and advancing high-quality development. To accurately grasp the systemic requirements of land-sea coordination, one must regard the ocean as an important component of the community of life for humanity and nature, and deeply understand the intrinsic connections of material circulation, energy flow, and information transmission among river basins, estuaries, bays, and offshore waters. Any mindset that views land or sea in isolation may lead to failing to attend to both sides of a matter (顾此失彼, gu ci shi bi - "care this, lose that") and ineffective governance. Therefore, it is necessary to uphold a systemic perspective and take the path of coordinated land-sea governance.
Marine ecological environment protection and governance under land-sea coordination are increasingly improving. In 2018, the institutional reform of the State Council integrated the responsibilities for marine ecological environment protection into the ecological environment departments, strengthening the overall coordination of land and marine ecological environment protection functions. In 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection that "it is necessary to adhere to the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts, and to build a major pattern of protection and governance extending from mountain tops to the ocean," making the scientific connotation of land-sea coordination more concrete, revealing the holistic, systematic nature and inherent development laws of land-sea ecosystems, and providing directional guidance and fundamental adherence for ecological environment protection and governance under land-sea coordination. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan clearly proposes to "adhere to land-sea coordination, enhance the capacity for ocean governance, and accelerate the building of a maritime power." The "Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China" establishes "land-sea coordination" as the core concept of ecological environment protection, incorporates the ocean into the overall protection framework of the community of life, and provides clear and solid legal guarantees for advancing marine ecological environment protection through land-sea coordination. In July 2025, the Sixth Meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission emphasized "placing greater emphasis on efficient coordination," pointing the direction for advancing land-sea coordination in the new era. Under the new circumstances, land-sea coordination is gradually moving from strategic thinking to concrete practice, fully reflecting that current marine ecological environment protection has shifted from end-of-pipe remediation of sea areas to systematic land-sea coordinated governance, and from single river basin governance to a whole-basin joint prevention and control mechanism.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, around key areas such as the control of rivers entering the sea, the investigation and remediation of sewage outlets discharging into the sea, and the treatment of marine litter, a series of precise and systematic land-sea coordinated governance measures have been implemented successively, promoting remarkable progress in marine ecological environment protection. In 2025, the average concentration of total nitrogen at 230 national-controlled river sections entering the sea nationwide was 3.34 mg/L, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared with 2020, remaining generally stable overall. The proportion of excellent and good water quality in offshore waters nationwide reached 84.9%, an increase of 7.5 percentage points over 2020. The 24 key monitored typical marine ecosystems have eliminated the "unhealthy" status for five consecutive years. The average coverage of beach litter in key bays has decreased by about 60%.
Deep-seated contradictions still exist in the coordinated governance of the ecological environment under land-sea coordination. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of the strategy of building a maritime power, land-sea coordination has achieved phased results in areas such as the establishment of institutional frameworks, pollution prevention and control, and comprehensive bay remediation. However, phased breakthroughs have not yet been transformed into systemic changes, and the coordinated governance of land-sea coordination still faces deep-seated contradictions and bottlenecks.
The land and marine ecological environment management systems have yet to be deeply integrated. China's river basin protection and governance is carried out based on a river basin zoning management system of basin-control zone-control unit, while marine ecological environment protection has established a hierarchical governance system of "national, provincial, municipal, and bay" levels. In land-sea coordinated governance, administrative boundaries are often inconsistent with natural geographical units (river basins, bays, etc.), and the connection with space-based land-sea target responsibility systems is insufficient. At the same time, the connection between land and marine ecological environment quality standards is insufficient. Currently, in the functional classification and protection objectives of surface water environments, total nitrogen is only included as a basic item for lakes and reservoirs in the evaluation of their nutritional status, and no control requirements have been put forward for total nitrogen in rivers entering the sea, resulting in the problem of excessive inorganic nitrogen in offshore waters remaining prominent. Except for some rivers in provinces such as Shandong, Guangdong, and Zhejiang, no unified total nitrogen control requirements connecting upstream and downstream have been proposed at the national river basin level.
The governance responsibilities of upstream areas of rivers entering the sea are unclear. According to estimates, the total nitrogen flux entering the sea from major rivers accounts for about 73.5% of the total nitrogen flux from all rivers entering the sea nationwide. Constrained by the complexity of total nitrogen governance, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, only principled requirements were put forward for total nitrogen governance of major rivers that have a prominent impact on offshore water quality, and the scope of rivers entering the sea included in governance needs to be expanded. In particular, represented by major rivers crossing provincial boundaries, the contribution of non-coastal provinces to offshore pollution is unclear, the governance boundaries of upstream areas of rivers entering the sea are unclear, and it is difficult to extend the governance of major rivers and other rivers entering the sea to upstream areas. The governance responsibilities of upstream areas have not been fully implemented, and their enthusiasm and initiative to participate in marine governance and protection are not strong.
Cross-regional and cross-departmental coordination and linkage mechanisms are not well established. There is a relatively obvious fragmentation between departments and regions in land-sea ecological environment protection and governance. In areas such as source emission reduction of land-based pollution entering the sea, guarantee of ecological water volume in rivers entering the sea, and linkage of river-sea ecological protection, coordinated and linked governance among departments and between upstream and downstream regions has not yet been achieved. In terms of departmental coordination, taking agricultural non-point source governance as an example, there still exist departmental barriers of "those who farm do not manage water, and those who manage water do not understand farmland." In terms of regional linkage, cross-regional coordination mechanisms, mainly the Jiulong River Basin Joint Meeting and the Hebei-Tianjin consultation, are still insufficient. Inland regions and coastal regions have different interest demands in pollution governance, and a cross-region-river basin-sea area ecological protection compensation mechanism has not yet been effectively established. The service value of marine ecosystems, the cost of coastal zone protection, and the gains and losses of coastal ecological restoration have not been fully incorporated into the compensation accounting system, and the contribution of marine ecological protection and the cost of ecological damage have not been fully reflected.
Accelerate the building of a major pattern of protection and governance extending from mountain tops to the ocean. Currently, China's ecological civilization construction is still in a critical period of superimposed pressures and carrying heavy burdens forward, and the task of building a Beautiful China remains arduous. Facing a new stage of economic development, complex changes in the international environment, and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather, the improvement of marine ecological environment quality has entered a bottleneck period, and marine ecological environment governance faces deep-seated contradictions and problems such as the governance of watershed non-point source pollution. Benchmarking against the strategic goals of a Beautiful China, it is urgent to further coordinate land and sea from the aspects of spatial coordination, factor coordination, and institutional coordination, and to fully support the high-quality development of the marine economy.
Strengthen top-level design and whole-domain control, and consolidate the institutional foundation of land-sea coordination. Adhere to the deep integration of land-sea coordination with national development strategies, and rely on the Belt and Road Initiative to expand the opening-up channels of the marine economy. Explore the formulation of "one map for land and sea," unifying the planning and control of sea areas and land areas to achieve whole-domain coordination of spatial development and protection. Fully consider the integrated ecological endowment of land and sea and the need for coordinated development and protection, improve and perfect the zoning control system for the marine ecological environment, establish a dynamic adjustment and rigid constraint mechanism based on ecological protection red lines, strengthen the whole-chain connection of systems such as marine environmental impact assessment and pollutant discharge permits, and form a spatial control synergy of whole-domain coverage and land-sea linkage.
Strengthen institutional and mechanism innovation for land-sea coordination, and promote the extension of governance responsibilities to upstream river basin areas. Select typical river basin-bay systems, in light of local conditions carry out reform pilots for target responsibility chains, monitoring and supervision systems, and implementation guarantee mechanisms for land-sea coordinated protection and governance, establish the spatial correspondence between bays, rivers entering the sea, river basin control units, and administrative jurisdictions, and systematically advance the integrated water quality target management of river basins and sea areas. At the same time, incorporate some provinces (cities) in the middle and lower reaches of major rivers into the land-sea coordinated governance areas, clarify the pollution prevention responsibilities of upstream areas for downstream areas and offshore waters, and promote the extension of marine protection and governance responsibilities to upstream river basin areas. Improve the target responsibility system and assessment and accountability system, and incorporate core indicators such as total nitrogen control in rivers entering the sea, improvement of offshore water quality, and health of estuarine and bay ecosystems into the performance assessment of local governments. Establish an ecological protection compensation mechanism between upstream and downstream river basin areas, explore diversified compensation methods, and consolidate the primary responsibility for joint land-sea governance.
Build a solid land-sea integrated security barrier and maintain the integrity of ecosystems. Practice the concept of ecological priority, take the integrity of land-sea ecosystems as the goal, and coordinate the integrated protection and systematic restoration of key ecological nodes such as estuaries, important bays, coastal wetlands, mangroves, and coral reefs, effectively enhancing their ecological functions and carbon sink capacity. At the same time, build land-sea linked environmental risk early warning and emergency response capabilities, improve the land-sea coordinated emergency response mechanism for sudden environmental incidents such as marine oil spills and hazardous chemical leaks, coordinate the advancement of the construction of a coastal zone disaster prevention and mitigation system, and effectively maintain the integrity and connectivity of land-sea ecosystems.
Strengthen technology empowerment and integrated monitoring and supervision, and enhance the modernization level of land-sea coordinated governance. Coordinate the layout of land and marine ecological environment quality monitoring stations, strengthen the linked monitoring of transboundary rivers entering the sea and offshore waters, and improve a three-dimensional monitoring network covering river basins, estuaries, bays, and offshore waters with upstream-downstream linkage of key river basins, land-sea coordination, and multi-departmental collaboration. Accelerate the deployment of new technological equipment such as intelligent sensing, remote sensing and telemetry, unmanned ship formations, and underwater robots, build an integrated intelligent monitoring network of sky, space, ground, and sea, realize the systematic and digital-intelligent upgrading of the national monitoring network, and achieve coordinated layout and interconnection between central and local monitoring networks. Break through key technologies such as pollutant source tracing and flux monitoring in offshore waters, and establish a land-sea integrated pollution source tracing and early warning and forecasting model. Build a comprehensive digital-intelligent governance platform for the marine ecological environment, and realize whole-chain digital-intelligent closed-loop management of monitoring and evaluation, early warning and forecasting, and law enforcement and supervision.
Promote the green and low-carbon transformation of land-sea industries and cultivate new quality productive forces in the marine sector. Accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional marine-related industries such as transportation, shipbuilding, chemicals, oil and gas, fishing, and aquaculture, implement energy-saving and low-carbon renovation against energy efficiency benchmark levels and baseline levels, and promote the development of traditional marine industries toward green and high-end directions. Actively cultivate green industries such as seawater desalination and comprehensive utilization, marine renewable energy, and marine ecological ranches, and continuously promote the cluster development of emerging industries such as offshore wind power, photovoltaics, and deep-sea aquaculture. Accelerate the research and development, design, manufacturing, demonstration, and promotion of new energy and clean energy-powered vessels, coordinate the advancement of innovative development in frontier fields such as offshore floating small modular nuclear reactors and hydrogen energy, increase the application and promotion efforts in typical scenarios such as marine monitoring, logistics and transportation, and offshore operations, and build a land-sea integrated, green and low-carbon modern marine industry system.
(The author is the Director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center)
Return to TopBy: 李大海
The ocean contains abundant resources and is an important safeguard for the security of China's strategic resources. In recent years, China's resource demand has continued to rise, and the scale of marine resource development has kept expanding. In 2025, China's gross ocean product exceeded 11 trillion yuan, with marine capture fisheries and mariculture output reaching 9.68 million tons and 26.59 million tons respectively; offshore oil production was approximately 68 million tons, an increase of about 2.5 million tons year-on-year, accounting for roughly 80 percent of the national increase in oil production; offshore wind power generation reached approximately 109.3 billion kilowatt-hours, setting another record high; and the daily production capacity of seawater desalination projects exceeded 2.9 million tons, becoming an important source of freshwater supply for coastal regions. In the future, as national economic growth increases resource demand and as marine engineering and technological capabilities continue to strengthen, the ocean will play an even more important role in China's strategic resource supply system.
At the same time, the expansion of resource development scale has brought potential risks to the marine ecological environment. In recent years, China has continuously strengthened marine ecological environmental protection, issuing a series of laws, regulations, and rules to regulate and guide marine resource development activities, ensuring that marine resource development and ecological environmental protection are balancing multiple objectives simultaneously (统筹兼顾, tong chou jian gu - "coordinate, take into account"). However, driven by economic interests, insufficient regulatory capacity, weak environmental awareness, and other factors, incidents in which marine resource development activities such as offshore fisheries, marine engineering, and oil, gas, and mineral development damage the marine ecological environment still occur frequently in China's coastal waters, including water pollution, wetland destruction, and reduced biodiversity. For example, during central ecological and environmental protection inspections, it was found that in one locality, multiple mariculture farms illegally discharged aquaculture tailwater, with total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations exceeding local discharge standards by more than 3.2 times and 3 times respectively, with some discharges even involving provincial-level nature reserves, threatening fishery germplasm resources and the ecological security of mangrove wetlands. Overall, excessive development intensity in coastal waters, extensive development methods, and lagging ecological regulation are the main reasons why marine resource development affects the marine ecological environment. To properly handle the contradiction between marine resource development and ecological environmental protection, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of balancing multiple objectives, respect the natural ecological laws of the ocean, and make coordinated efforts in three aspects: strict regulation, promoting transformation, and improving mechanisms.
Strict regulation means strictly implementing territorial spatial functional regulation of marine resource development. Traditional marine functional zoning is oriented toward development and utilization, focusing on use designation, and lacks refined ecological control rules and control over hidden ecological damage caused by resource development, such as ecological disturbance, pollution discharge, and benthic destruction, which can easily lead to development intensity exceeding the ecological carrying capacity of sea areas. In this regard, it is necessary to establish the concept of marine territorial spatial planning and strictly implement differentiated management in accordance with marine main functional zone planning. In terms of functional zoning, clearly define the dominant and compatible functions of each sea area, and implement the strictest protection and control measures for ecologically sensitive areas such as mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and estuarine bays. In terms of approval management, strictly implement the full-process system of sea area use right approval, planning permits, and environmental impact assessment access, deepen the reform of "multiple reviews in one, multiple certificates in one," streamline and optimize sea use approval procedures, and improve government service and regulatory efficiency. In terms of spatial utilization models, break the limitations of traditional planar management, promote three-dimensional layered rights allocation of sea areas, and promote the transformation of marine resource development from planar utilization to three-dimensional, intensive, and refined utilization.
Promoting transformation means activating the endogenous driving force for green development of marine resource development. The traditional extensive marine resource development model is prone to problems such as sea area pollution, ecological damage, and resource depletion, and can no longer meet the requirements of high-quality development of the ocean in the new era. Marine resource development must adhere to the concept of ecological priority and comprehensively promote green transformation. First, strengthen the bottom-line thinking on ecology, regulate the development of marine fisheries, strictly implement the fishing moratorium system and fishing gear access system, promote multi-trophic-level ecological aquaculture models, and enforce the requirement for standard-compliant discharge of aquaculture tailwater; optimize the layout of offshore wind power, offshore oil and gas, and deep-sea mineral industries, with project siting actively avoiding ecologically sensitive areas, and implement protective measures such as ecological isolation, biological protection, and pollution-free operations throughout the construction process. Second, promote green technological transformation, popularize technologies such as non-disturbance drilling and closed-loop mud recovery for offshore oil and gas extraction; develop environmentally friendly deep-sea mineral collection systems to reduce disturbance to seabed ecology during development operations; and deepen technologies such as cascade seawater utilization and marine solid waste resource utilization to improve the level of resource recycling. Third, deepen digital and intelligent empowerment, relying on digital means such as big data and marine environment simulation systems to build a full-chain regulatory system of pre-judgment before the event, control during the event, and review after the event, accurately assessing the impact of resource development on sea area ecology, scientifically optimizing extraction layout and operation sequencing, and precisely preventing and controlling ecological risks.
Improving mechanisms means improving the ecological damage compensation mechanism for marine resource development. For a long time, relevant governance mechanisms have had shortcomings such as no standards for value accounting, no quantification of damage assessment, imprecise compensation and accountability, and no means of implementing restoration, resulting in inadequate implementation of responsibilities for ecological damage compensation and restoration, insufficient punishment for breach of trust, and difficulty in effectively constraining illegal development activities. To improve the marine ecological governance system, it is necessary to improve the ecological damage compensation and accountability mechanism and consolidate the primary responsibility of all types of development entities. On the one hand, unify and standardize governance standards, and in light of the characteristics of marine resource development activities, establish a standardized technical system for ecological product value accounting and ecological damage assessment, accurately quantifying the value of marine ecological services such as water purification, carbon sinks, biodiversity protection, and disaster prevention and mitigation. Relying on routine ecological baseline monitoring data, achieve a basis for ecological compensation, precise quantification of damage compensation, and verifiable and inspectable restoration results. On the other hand, strictly implement the accountability and punishment system, comprehensively covering ecological damage caused by all types of marine resource development activities, and recover ecological restoration costs and ecological function loss costs from violating enterprises and individuals in accordance with the law. At the same time, establish a mechanism for constraining breach of trust, include business entities that refuse to fulfill ecological compensation and ecological restoration obligations in the list of untrustworthy entities, and coordinate multi-departmental joint punishment, using rigid institutional constraints to force the standardization and greening of marine resource development activities.
(The author is Vice President of the Institute of Marine Development of Ocean University of China)
Return to TopBy: 付玉
The ocean is a treasure trove of natural resources and a strategic frontier for high-quality development. The marine ecological environment bears on the global ecological balance and the rational use of resources, bears on the sustainable development of human civilization, and bears on the building of a maritime community with a shared future. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out that "we should care for the ocean as we care for our own lives," emphasizing the need to pay greater attention to harmony between people and the sea, coordinate the development and protection of marine resources, build a sustainable marine ecological environment, and form a new pattern of positive interaction between people and the sea. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China has adhered to prioritizing ecology and coordinating land and sea, adhered to science and technology leadership and pluralistic co-governance, and has blazed a path of harmony between people and the sea with Chinese characteristics. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan has made important arrangements such as strengthening source prevention of marine environmental risks and improving the marine ecological early warning and monitoring system, highlighting the important position of marine ecological environment protection in the national modernization layout.
Strengthening marine ecological environment protection is an important task for accelerating the building of a maritime power. A sound ecological environment is an important support for the building of a maritime power, and high-level marine ecological protection is an inherent or necessary part of a discussion (题中应有之义, ti zhong ying you zhi yi - "topic, within, should, have, of, meaning") of improving the quality and efficiency of the blue economy. Marine ecological protection and resource development are dialectically unified and mutually empowering. An excellent marine ecological environment is the foundation and support for the development of marine industries such as marine fisheries, marine tourism, marine pharmaceuticals and biological products, and coastal tidal flat cultivation; at the same time, industrial development and scientific and technological progress can also promote ecological environment protection. However, at present, China still has problems such as relatively extensive methods of marine resource development and utilization, excessive development of nearshore shallow waters, and insufficient development of the deep and distant seas, and the level and efficiency of resource development and utilization are not high. Some traditional marine industries have long relied on extensive and resource-based development models, resulting in excessive resource development and deterioration of the ecological environment. Illegal mining of sea sand, artificial shorelines, and other engineering activities have led to a reduction in the carrying capacity of nearshore resources and the environment, and long-term high-intensity fishing development and nearshore pollution have led to a decline in the resources of economic fish species in traditional fishing grounds. Therefore, while fully releasing the endowment of marine resources, it is even more necessary to hold fast to the ecological bottom line of sustainable development.
Strengthening marine ecological environment protection is an important task for building a Beautiful China. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development and building a Beautiful China. A sound ecological environment is the most inclusive public welfare for people's livelihoods, and blue seas and silver beaches are the most intuitive ecological calling card of a Beautiful China. Strengthening marine ecological environment protection and continuously providing a beautiful marine environment and high-quality ecological products are inherent requirements for building a Beautiful China and meeting the people's growing needs for a better life. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China coordinated the promotion of "one bay, one policy" and has cumulatively built more than 70 beautiful bays, and the beautiful picture of "clear water and clean beaches, fish and gulls gathering, and harmony between people and the sea" has gradually moved from blueprint to reality. The water quality of nearshore sea areas has continued to improve, and source control of land-based pollution has achieved results. However, it must also be recognized that there are still many shortcomings in current marine environmental governance. Some sea areas and estuaries have large total pollutant discharge and discharge intensity, the results of sea area water quality improvement are prone to rebound, the proportion of water quality areas worse than Class IV in some nearshore sea areas has risen, and the cumulative risk of emerging pollutants in nearshore seas continues to increase. Small and medium-sized bays have a tendency to emphasize end-of-pipe pollution treatment over source restoration, and the connection between watershed management and sea area governance is not smooth. Anchored to the overall goal of building a Beautiful China, it is necessary to firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature, properly handle the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection, strengthen source prevention of marine environmental risks, consolidate the responsibility for coordinated land-sea pollution control, continue to implement comprehensive treatment of key sea areas, advance the construction actions of blue bays, beautiful beaches, and harmonious islands, and provide strong support and guarantee for advancing the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.
Strengthening marine ecological environment protection is an important task for safeguarding national ecological security. The ocean is a key area for building a solid national ecological security barrier, and marine ecological security is closely related to marine environmental quality, shoreline protection, and coastal disaster prevention and mitigation capacity. China is a major maritime country, with a continental coastline of more than 18,000 kilometers, an island coastline of more than 14,000 kilometers, and approximately 3 million square kilometers of claimed jurisdictional sea areas. Strengthening marine ecological environment protection is an inevitable choice for safeguarding national ecological security and the safety of life and property of the people in coastal areas. Marine ecosystems have an irreplaceable disaster prevention and mitigation function. Mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass beds can reduce the impact of storm surges by more than 70%, and the coastal erosion rate of intact mangrove shoreline sections is reduced by more than 60% compared with degraded tidal flats, effectively reducing losses caused by storm surges, seawater intrusion, and coastal erosion. Problems such as the intensifying impact of global warming, sea level rise, frequent marine disasters, and ecosystem degradation have brought considerable pressure on China's marine ecological security. Monitoring data show that over the past nearly 40 years, the coastal sea level in China has shown an accelerating upward trend, and coastal areas face considerable impacts and risks from sea level rise. In recent years, the number and cumulative area of red tides discovered in China have declined, but problems such as green tides of Enteromorpha prolifera and marine hypoxia still exist. Facing the national ecological security construction goals of the 15th Five-Year Plan, it is necessary to adhere to the dual efforts of source control and systematic restoration, enhance the diversity, stability, and sustainability of ecosystems, and build a solid marine ecological security barrier.
(The author is the director of the Marine Policy and Management Research Office of the Institute of Marine Development Strategy of the Ministry of Natural Resources)
Return to TopBy: 黄嫣艳 陶文鹏
Modern warfare is accelerating into a new intelligent stage characterized by all-domain awareness, full-process visibility, and network-wide controllability. Space-based reconnaissance overlooks all domains from above, unmanned aerial vehicles conduct continuous patrol and reconnaissance, sensors are densely woven into networks, and cyber-electromagnetic monitoring leaves no loopholes. The natural barriers that once shielded the battlefield—night, weather, terrain, and the like—are continuously weakening, and the traditional fog of war is gradually dissipating. The increasing transparency of the battlefield has fundamentally changed the applicable scenarios of traditional tactics such as concealed waiting, surprise attacks, and mobile penetration, and combat operations now exhibit the characteristic of "detection means destruction." The transparent battlefield has become the mainstream form of future operations.
First, updating operational thinking and cognition is the foundational prerequisite for mastering the transparent battlefield and seizing the initiative for victory.
Relying on battlefield concealment to create information asymmetries and leveraging tactical surprise to seize the operational initiative are valuable experiences accumulated through actual combat. However, today's deep empowerment of intelligent technology has completely rewritten the rules of confrontation on the modern battlefield. The multi-dimensional, three-dimensional, all-domain reconnaissance and surveillance system is becoming increasingly complete, and land, sea, air, space, cyber, and electromagnetic multi-domain sensing forces are seamlessly interconnected, building an all-weather, all-time, all-dimensional three-dimensional monitoring network. Operational elements such as troop position construction, force deployment, support chains, and maneuver routes are almost nowhere to hide, making them extremely easy for adversaries to precisely reconnoiter and rapidly counterattack. What were once operational advantages are gradually becoming battlefield weaknesses.
The transparent battlefield is not absolutely "fog-free and dust-free." With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, deepfake, and algorithmic manipulation technologies, intelligent information deception, data tampering, and cognitive interference means are emerging in an endless stream (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong - "layer, out, not, end"), giving rise to a new type of battlefield fog in which truth and falsehood are interwoven and difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood (虚实难辨, xu shi nan bian - "false, real, difficult, distinguish"). Compared with traditional battlefield fog, this cognitive confrontation fog is more concealed and precise, highly deceptive, and significantly intensifies the complex situation of battlefield gaming. In response, it is necessary to break through the shackles of inherent operational thinking, reform traditional operational concepts, and firmly establish a new operational mindset of information dominance, system support, intelligent confrontation, and virtual-real gaming, adapting to battlefield changes through thinking innovation and leading combat readiness transformation through conceptual upgrading.
Second, building a strong all-domain system support is the core key to adapting to the transparent battlefield and achieving victory over the enemy.
Modern warfare has long bid farewell to the confrontation model of single-service operations and single-equipment competition, entering a comprehensive confrontation stage of system versus system, all-domain versus all-domain, and intelligence versus intelligence. The key to winning on the battlefield increasingly depends on the depth of system integration, the speed of information flow, the precision of situational sharing, and the accuracy of intelligent analysis and judgment. The offensive and defensive contest on the transparent battlefield appears on the surface to be a competition of equipment performance and tactical methods, but in essence it is a contest of information superiority and system capability. Whoever can perceive the battlefield situation before the enemy, accurately assess enemy movements, and efficiently allocate operational resources will seize the battlefield initiative and lock in the advantage for victory.
To adapt to the operational requirements of the transparent battlefield, it is necessary to continuously promote the digital, intelligent, and integrated transformation and upgrading of the operational system. It is necessary to adhere to overall coordination and multi-dimensional effort, integrate multi-dimensional reconnaissance and early warning forces across land, sea, air, space, cyber, and electromagnetic domains, coordinate various sensing terminals, reconnaissance platforms, and intelligence systems, thoroughly break down information barriers among all services and branches, operational units, and tactical chains, eliminate information silos, fill coordination blind spots, and build an integrated operational system with all-domain coverage, precision and efficiency, and real-time linkage. By unifying data standards, optimizing transmission links, upgrading intelligent algorithms, and improving assessment models, automatic collection, intelligent screening, rapid distribution, and precise push of battlefield information can be achieved. By opening up the operational chain in all directions, information advantages will be effectively transformed into decision-making advantages, system advantages into operational advantages, and intelligent advantages into victory advantages, forging and forming system-of-systems operational capabilities of detecting the enemy first, assessing the enemy first, deciding first, striking first, and winning first, laying a solid foundation for winning intelligent warfare.
Third, reconstructing the practical training paradigm is the key lever for adapting to the transparent battlefield and tempering survivability capabilities.
As the battlefield environment evolves, so must training and combat readiness transform. Practical training is the fundamental path to connecting with the battlefield and honing skills. The profound changes in battlefield forms inevitably require all-round iterative upgrading of training models, training organization methods, and training content. Classic tactics such as traditional concealed raids, nighttime penetration, and positional defense have seen their practical combat effectiveness greatly diminished in the transparent battlefield environment. The traditional training organization model characterized by extensiveness, routinization, and formalization can no longer adapt to future intelligent operational requirements.
Facing the severe test of extreme confrontation on the transparent battlefield, it is necessary to improve traditional training organization thinking and training models divorced from actual combat, reconstruct the practical training system, optimize training content, and innovate training organization models. Counter-reconnaissance, anti-interference, counter-deception, and situation concealment should be made core subjects of daily training, and practical combat environments such as strong electromagnetic suppression, all-domain reconnaissance and surveillance, false situation interference, and complex public opinion misleading should be routinely constructed, allowing officers and soldiers to temper their practical combat skills and hone their ability to win in realistic and harsh battlefield environments.
Focusing on the challenge of concealed survival on the transparent battlefield, traditional shielding and camouflage methods should be combined with new-type tactics such as optoelectronic stealth, electromagnetic shielding, heat source elimination, and dynamic camouflage to comprehensively enhance the force's concealed penetration and camouflage capabilities. Routine training in rapid maneuver, distributed deployment, modular organization, and dynamic offensive and defensive operations should be conducted to effectively avoid battlefield risks of force concentration exposure and targeted target locking. Drills in contingency handling, cognitive confrontation, and precise counterattack should be strengthened to break inherent thinking patterns and operational routines, tempering the solid practical combat capability of preserving oneself, waiting concealed, and precisely defeating the enemy under extreme conditions of full-time surveillance, all-domain sensing, and full-process interference, truly achieving concealed survival in a transparent environment and breaking the deadlock to win in intense gaming.
Fourth, skillfully employing virtual-real gaming strategies is an important path to reshaping the battlefield situation and achieving victory through unexpected means (出奇制胜, chu qi zhi sheng - "out, unexpected, control, victory").
The logic of confrontation on the transparent battlefield is not passive adaptation or negative avoidance of exposure risks, but rather actively shaping the situation, actively creating opportunities for battle, creating cognitive blind spots for the adversary in dynamic gaming, and firmly grasping battlefield dominance. Although battlefield transparency is a two-way technological trend, by relying on active strategy and precise posture-building, it is entirely possible to break the symmetrical transparency between the two sides, achieve asymmetric operational advantages, and realize one-way transparent suppression of the battlefield.
On the transparent battlefield, only by combining both offense and defense (攻守并举, gong shou bing ju - "attack, defend, both, lift") and employing both virtual and real means can one firmly grasp the battlefield initiative and occupy a favorable position in gaming. On the one hand, relying on a complete all-domain reconnaissance, intelligent assessment, and efficient strike operational system, one should closely target weak links in enemy force deployment, operational systems, and maneuver movements, carry out precision strikes, continuously compress the adversary's operational space, and erode the adversary's battlefield advantages. On the other hand, one must intensively study intelligent cognitive confrontation and virtual-real gaming tactics, flexibly employ means such as information deception, data camouflage, and situation misleading to actively create new-type battlefield fog. In this way, one can interfere with the adversary's perception, delay its actions, disrupt its decision-making, and induce its misjudgment. By building a one-way transparent asymmetric advantage, one can escape the predicament of passive defense and passive response, achieving winning through intelligence and wisdom (以智取胜, yi zhi qu sheng - "use, wisdom, take, victory") and breaking a deadlock through strategic planning (以谋破局, yi mou po ju - "use, strategy, break, game").
Technology reshapes the battlefield form, and thinking determines the momentum of victory in war. The transparent battlefield is an inevitable product of military technology iteration and a practical examination question for training and combat readiness in the intelligent era. From "seeing clearly" to "seeing through," from "perception" to "cognition," from "adaptation" to "mastery," the logic of winning wars is undergoing deep reconstruction. Only by leading transformation with thinking changes, building a solid foundation with strong systems, tempering hard skills with practical training, and cracking the puzzle with flexible strategy, actively adapting to the changes of the transparent battlefield, can the "double-edged sword" be turned into a "trump card," providing solid support for achieving the goal of winning. Based on the new operational landscape, training and combat readiness must actively adapt to changes in the mechanism for winning on the transparent battlefield, break traditional operational thinking patterns, and open up new prospects in identifying, responding to, and seeking changes (识变、应变、求变, shi bian ying bian qiu bian - "know, change, respond, change, seek, change"), firmly grasping the initiative for winning future wars.
Return to TopBy: 刘钢
A reconnaissance aircraft is a special-purpose military aircraft dedicated to aerial reconnaissance, intelligence collection, and target surveillance. Its core function is to cross terrain barriers and obtain, over long distances, key intelligence such as enemy force dispositions, field fortifications, transportation hubs, and air-defense facilities, providing first-hand information support for command decision-making, firepower strikes, and operational assessment. From mechanized warfare to intelligent joint operations, reconnaissance aircraft have continuously expanded the boundaries of reconnaissance, and they are a signature piece of equipment for measuring an armed force's all-domain situational awareness and long-range predictive operational capability.
From Simple Photography to Strategic Reconnaissance
Fighters are aimed at air-superiority operations, and bombers focus on deep-strike destruction; only reconnaissance aircraft do not directly participate in combat, relying instead on electro-optical, radar, and electronic-receiving detection equipment to serve as the "aerial eyes and ears" of the entire operational system. The development process of aerial reconnaissance is, in essence, an upgrade process in which war has come to "see more clearly, see farther, and see around the clock." In the early period when aircraft had just been introduced to the battlefield, there were no dedicated reconnaissance aircraft. People discovered that the most intuitive use of an aircraft was to look far into the distance (登高望远, deng gao wang yuan - "climb high, look far"), enabling them to see enemy movements in ground blind spots. At that time, pilots relied entirely on naked-eye observation and manual memory, at most carrying simple film cameras to take photographs. Intelligence acquisition was simple and crude, and moreover, the film had to be returned to the ground and developed before it could be studied and assessed, so information lagged severely and could only be used on shallow, near-front battlefields where air superiority was fully in hand.
From World War II to the Cold War period, the intensity of battlefield confrontation increased dramatically, and the operational scope expanded toward great depth, prompting various countries to build true dedicated reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft of this stage were no longer simple modifications; rather, they were specially optimized for high-altitude flight performance to evade conventional ground air-defense fire. At the same time, they carried professional aerial cameras, basic radar, and electronic signal receiving equipment, enabling them both to capture clear ground imagery and to passively intercept the electromagnetic signals of enemy radar and communications, achieving the dual reconnaissance capability of "seeing and hearing." However, limited by the technology of the time, all data and imagery had to be processed on the ground and could not be transmitted back in real time, so intelligence timeliness still had obvious shortcomings, and reconnaissance stability under nighttime and complex weather conditions was also insufficient.
After entering the information age, the comprehensive breakthroughs in digital imaging, satellite communications, and intelligent sensing technology completely reshaped the operational form of reconnaissance aircraft, upgrading them from a single "aerial photography tool" into an all-domain intelligence hub. Traditional film equipment was completely phased out; electro-optical infrared and synthetic aperture radar became standard equipment, unafraid of night, clouds, fog, or smoke, enabling all-weather, round-the-clock reconnaissance. High-speed data links and satellite communications technology allow reconnaissance imagery and target data to be encrypted and transmitted back in real time without needing to land for assessment. More importantly, the new generation of reconnaissance aircraft has completely broken away from the single-aircraft operational model and can network and coordinate with unmanned aerial vehicles, ground combat units, and firepower strike platforms, opening up the complete operational loop of "reconnaissance—targeting—strike—assessment," adapting to the core needs of modern intelligent joint operations.
Reconnaissance aircraft are divided into strategic and tactical types. Strategic reconnaissance aircraft are large, dedicated long-range platforms with large fuselage dimensions and large fuel capacity, possessing high-altitude, long-endurance, cross-regional flight capability, and able to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear areas to carry out all-domain reconnaissance missions. A single sortie can cover an area of more than ten thousand square kilometers and can locate strategic core targets such as command centers, large military-industrial facilities, long-range air-defense positions, and major transportation arteries. Tactical reconnaissance aircraft are mostly modified from trainer aircraft and light fighters, with some being dedicated small platforms. They mainly reconnoiter shallow-depth targets such as forward positions, armored clusters, artillery positions, and roads and bridges, and can operate in coordination with ground forces and attack aircraft.
An Aerial Intelligence Sensing Hub
For more than 100 years, reconnaissance aircraft have developed from simple film-observation aircraft into an aerial intelligence hub integrating imagery, electromagnetic, and communications sensing. Relying on the unique advantages of wide detection range, complete intelligence dimensions, and fast information transmission, they build the long-range sensing capability indispensable to joint operations, linking together the complete operational chain of reconnaissance, command, strike, and assessment.
All-domain, three-dimensional sensing, breaking through terrain and environmental limitations. Relying on the advantage of aerial flight, they are not blocked by mountains, rivers, or fortifications. High-altitude radar can penetrate clouds, fog, and vegetation, and infrared equipment is not limited by day or night, enabling all-weather, large-area scanning of ground and sea-surface targets, with coverage range and detection efficiency far exceeding ground-based reconnaissance forces.
Multi-dimensional intelligence collection simultaneously, with rich information types. A single platform can simultaneously complete imagery photography, radar signal interception, and radio communications monitoring, enabling it both to see the target's shape and location clearly and to grasp the operating frequencies and deployment points of enemy radar and radio stations, forming a complete "imagery + electromagnetic" intelligence picture that supports multi-level operational decision-making.
Long-range real-time transmission, greatly improving intelligence timeliness. New-generation aircraft carry high-speed satellite communications and tactical data links. Detected imagery, coordinates, and electromagnetic data need not land; after encryption they can be pushed simultaneously to command posts at all levels, artillery, and aerial strike units, rapidly guiding long-range firepower to carry out precision strikes and greatly compressing operational reaction time.
Flexible mission adaptation, balancing reconnaissance and damage assessment. In peacetime, they can carry out routine border patrols and maritime situation monitoring; in wartime, they can advance to probe enemy defensive deployments, and after strikes conclude, return to the target area to photograph damage imagery and autonomously complete damage assessment. Large strategic aircraft can also handle non-combat civilian missions such as meteorology and mapping, giving them prominent "dual-use in peace and war" value.
How to Adapt to the Intelligent Era
Reconnaissance aircraft carry no main offensive weapons and lack active countermeasure capability; when intercepted by enemy fighters, they can only rely on chaff and flare dispensers and evasive maneuvering for self-protection. Their onboard precision electro-optical and electronic reconnaissance equipment is costly, maintenance procedures are complex, and requirements for logistics support are high. As air-defense systems become intelligent and unmanned operations become large-scale, traditional reconnaissance aircraft need to iterate and upgrade in directions such as manned-unmanned networking, multi-domain integration, and low-cost distribution.
Manned reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned reconnaissance platforms coordinate in a network. Large manned strategic reconnaissance aircraft serve as the aerial intelligence command hub and can dispatch multiple high- and low-altitude, long- and short-range unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to detect by zones. Unmanned aircraft advance to penetrate high-risk air-defense zones to carry out close-in reconnaissance, while manned aircraft aggregate and fuse multi-source intelligence in safe airspace, avoiding the risk of pilots penetrating deep into enemy territory and achieving large-area, gap-free continuous surveillance.
All-platform stealth modification, strengthening concealed penetration capability. New-generation tactical and strategic aircraft generally adopt stealth aerodynamic layouts, composite-material fuselages, and infrared-suppressing exhaust nozzles, greatly reducing radar, optical, and infrared signal signatures. They focus on upgrading passive silent reconnaissance modes, radiating no detection signals to the outside throughout the mission, enabling covert intelligence collection even under a complete enemy air-defense system.
Onboard artificial intelligence empowers autonomous intelligence processing. Aircraft carry edge-computing units with built-in AI target recognition algorithms that automatically distinguish tanks, radar stations, command buildings, and civilian facilities, filter out invalid imagery, and automatically mark, classify, and store key target coordinates. They can autonomously compare imagery from successive sorties, quickly identify newly added fortifications and mobile force movements in positions, and reduce the workload of rear-area manual assessment.
Distributed low-cost reconnaissance systems develop in complementary fashion. High-end large strategic reconnaissance aircraft are responsible for overall strategic survey, paired with large numbers of small, low-cost tactical reconnaissance platforms and loitering reconnaissance munitions to fill gaps in forward sensing. At the same time, onboard equipment structures are simplified to reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs, achieving routine, uninterrupted all-domain patrol and solving the shortcoming of limited sortie frequency of large reconnaissance aircraft.
Return to TopBy: 彭洲飞
The Zunyi Campaign was a major campaign in which the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, after summing up the lessons of the failure of the fifth counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaign and establishing a correct military line, took the initiative to seek change. On February 9, 1935, Mao Zedong, at the Zhaxi meeting of responsible comrades of the central authorities, clearly proposed "turning the troops back eastward, crossing the Chishui River again, and recapturing Zunyi," pointing out the direction of the Red Army's next advance. From February 24 to March 1, 1935, the main force of the Central Red Army successively captured Tongzi, the Loushan Pass, and Zunyi, achieving a major victory in the Zunyi Campaign and reversing the passive situation of being beaten at the start of the Long March.
Forward-looking strategic planning
A scientific and correct military strategy is the greatest guarantee of victory. The Zhaxi Conference decided to take the border region of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou as the area of development, to open up the situation through victorious battles, and to plan the direction of action of the Central Red Army from an overall perspective. Before the Zunyi Campaign, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission made meticulous arrangements in strategy and tactics, march deployment, and troop organization, accurately assessed the enemy's strength and intentions, flexibly deployed combat forces, and made full preparations for recapturing Zunyi.
First, turning the troops eastward to break out of the encirclement. After the first crossing of the Chishui River, the main force of the Kuomintang army was drawn to the Sichuan-Yunnan border, leaving northern Guizhou with weak troop strength. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission made a decisive decision to quickly cross the Chishui River eastward, taking the enemy by surprise (出其不意, chu qi bu yi - "go out; reach; not; intention") and jumping out of the encirclement, leaving the enemy behind and attacking the northern Guizhou area where enemy forces were weak. This major strategic decision won precious opportunities and a time window for the troops to advance on Zunyi. Second, giving full play to the strengths of mobile warfare and concentrating forces to annihilate the enemy. Facing the strong enemy's "encirclement and suppression," the Central Committee pointed out that the overall strategic policy was decisive defense rather than purely passive defense, and mobile warfare rather than positional warfare. It emphasized persisting in guerrilla warfare and defeating the enemy one by one (各个击破, ge ge ji po - "each; each; strike; break") in mobile warfare, providing scientific guidance for our army's military struggle. Third, streamlining organizations, strengthening combat companies, and marching lightly equipped. In order to adapt to the new combat environment of high mountains and dense forests, it was planned to disperse operations in the form of small guerrilla units. To this end, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission reorganized and rectified the troops. Except for the cadre regiment, the entire army was organized into 16 regiments. The First Army Corps was reduced to 2 divisions and 6 regiments. The other army corps abolished the division-level structure; the Third Army Corps was reduced to 4 regiments, and the Fifth and Ninth Army Corps were each organized into 3 regiments. These major reform measures provided important force support for the troops' rapid marches and mobile operations.
Outstanding campaign command
Correct campaign deployment is the precursor to victory. The Central Red Army suddenly turned back eastward, preparing to strike at the enemy's weak point, and the enemy immediately lost its composure (乱了阵脚, luan le zhen jiao - "mess; finish; formation; foot"). Wang Jialie's Guizhou army hastily assembled troops from Zunyi and its vicinity to reinforce the Loushan Pass and Tongzi, while Xue Yue's forces also urgently ordered troops to advance on Zunyi, vainly attempting to block and encircle our army. Under very serious enemy conditions, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission decided to quickly break through the Guizhou army's resistance and advance on Zunyi before the bulk of the pursuing enemy had arrived. In campaign command, the First Army Corps was tasked with capturing Tongzi county town, the Third Army Corps with seizing the Loushan Pass and the area to its south, and then jointly capturing Zunyi to gain the initiative; at the same time, the Fifth Army Corps served as the overall rearguard to block the pursuing Sichuan army from the south.
Rapid advance on Tongzi. Tongzi was the northern gateway to northern Guizhou and a necessary route for the Red Army to advance south to Zunyi. The main forces of the First and Third Army Corps attacked Tongzi county town from the north and south in a pincer movement. During the advance, the Red Army successively routed the blocking efforts of 4 Guizhou army regiments. On the evening of February 24, Yang Dezhi led the vanguard troops to the northern outskirts of Tongzi. Upon learning that only 2 companies remained in the city awaiting relief, they immediately attacked the city when its defenses were vulnerable (乘虚攻城, cheng xu gong cheng - "ride; hollow; attack; city"). After less than 2 hours of fierce fighting, the Guizhou army abandoned the city and fled. At 10 p.m. that night, the army corps commanders reported to the Military Commission: the city of Tongzi had been occupied, lifting the curtain on the Zunyi Campaign.
Seizing the Loushan Pass. The Loushan Pass was the key passage for advancing on Zunyi. Located at the junction of Zunyi and Tongzi, the pass was surrounded by towering peaks, with a strategically important and easily defended but hard to attack (易守难攻, yi shou nan gong - "easy; defend; difficult; attack") terrain, 40 kilometers south of Zunyi and 15 kilometers north of Tongzi, serving as the northern gate of Zunyi city. After learning of the fall of Tongzi, more than 3 regiments of the reinforcing Guizhou army retreated to defend the Loushan Pass, attempting to use the natural barrier to block the Red Army's advance south. After the Central Revolutionary Military Commission issued the order to "resolutely annihilate the enemy at the Loushan Pass and seize Zunyi city while pressing the advantage," on the 25th, the Red Army decided to concentrate its main forces to attack the Loushan Pass and the Guizhou army to its south, while the Fifth and Ninth Army Corps blocked the Sichuan army in the northwest of Tongzi on the periphery. This operation was under the unified command of Peng Dehuai and Yang Shangkun. On the night of the 25th, the Third Army Corps captured the Loushan Pass, annihilating part of the enemy. On the 26th, after smashing multiple enemy counterattacks on the Loushan Pass, the Red Army used part of its forces to launch a frontal counterattack against the enemy attacking the pass, while the main force of the First Army Corps and one regiment of the Third Army Corps launched flanking attacks from the east and west sides of the pass toward the enemy's rear area at Banqiao. After fierce fighting, the Battle of the Loushan Pass severely mauled the Guizhou army, and the remnants fled toward Zunyi.
Recapturing Zunyi city. Zunyi was divided into the old city and the new city, with the Xiangjiang River flowing through. To slow down the Red Army, Wang Jialie's forces deployed the 8th Regiment of the Guizhou army, 2 battalions of the 1st Regiment, and the remnants of Du Zhaohua's 6th Regiment north of the city, the 5th Regiment south of the city, leaving only 1 battalion of the 1st Regiment inside Zunyi city. On the night of the 26th, the Red Army learned that the defending enemy in Zunyi city was only 1 battalion, while Wu Qiwei's enemy forces were crossing the Wujiang River northward to reinforce. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission therefore decided to seize this favorable opportunity and ordered the First and Third Army Corps to "take advantage of the routed enemy's failure to catch its breath and pursue directly down to Zunyi." On the afternoon of the 27th, the First and Third Army Corps routed the Guizhou army at the Donggongsi line north of the city. On the night of the 27th, the Third Army Corps launched a general assault on the old city of Zunyi: the 11th Regiment attacked the east gate, the 12th Regiment attacked the north gate, and the 13th Regiment attacked the west gate, forming a powerful pincer offensive, finally occupying the old city of Zunyi in the early morning of the 28th. While capturing the old city, the First Army Corps also occupied the new city of Zunyi and controlled the high ground of Honghuagang and Laoyashan south of the city. On the periphery, the Fifth and Ninth Army Corps, in accordance with the orders of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, skillfully maneuvered against the enemy on the northern front, excellently completing the task of blocking the Sichuan army and ensuring the smooth implementation of the Zunyi Campaign. On March 1, the Military Commission column arrived in Zunyi city, and the Zunyi Campaign ended in victory.
Masterful combat artistry
First, flexibility and mobility in operations. The "Letter to All Red Commanders and Fighters" pointed out that the Red Army must constantly shift its operational areas, sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes taking the main roads, sometimes the small paths, sometimes the old routes, sometimes the new routes, with the sole purpose of achieving victory in battle under favorable conditions. During the rapid advance on Tongzi, the Red Army skillfully wove through the gaps between the enemy's heavy forces, disrupting the enemy's "pursuit and suppression" deployment and striking directly at the enemy's weak points. During the occupation of Zunyi, the Red Army used methods of exhausting, confusing, luring, and deceiving the enemy, actively seeking opportunities to annihilate them. For example, when the First and Third Army Corps detected that the reinforcing enemy Wu Qiwei's 2 divisions were advancing recklessly and in isolation, each dispatched 1 regiment to actively meet the enemy. After luring the enemy to the outskirts of Zunyi, they immediately built fortifications to pin the enemy down, while our main forces launched assaults from the left and right flanks to annihilate them.
Second, boosting the courage to kill the enemy and strengthening confidence in victory. Mao Zedong emphasized that the enemy is like the five fingers on a hand, and we must cut them off one finger at a time, greatly boosting the morale of officers and soldiers. During the fierce battle at the Loushan Pass, the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion, which served as the assault unit, bravely climbed the steep cliffs bit by bit toward the summit under a dense hail of bullets. After reaching the summit, the fighters engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, repelling multiple counterattacks by entire companies and battalions of the Guizhou army, demonstrating a brave and fearless (英勇无畏, ying yong wu wei - "brave; courageous; without; fear") spirit of killing the enemy.
Third, relying on the people to defeat the enemy. The people are the foundation of victory. The active support of the masses in the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou regions was a powerful backing for defeating the enemy. The exorbitant taxes and levies of the northern Guizhou warlord Wang Jialie had made life very difficult for the common people. On February 23, the General Political Department of the Red Army carried out in-depth political work to win the people's support for the war effort and issued the "Letter to the Toiling Masses of Workers and Peasants of Northern Guizhou," calling for the confiscation of all the land of the gentry, the elimination of all reactionary forces, revenge for the comrades who had suffered, and struggle for their own liberation. During the march toward northern Guizhou, the masses vied with each other to guide the Red Army, carry loads, serve tea and give eggs to the fighters, help shelter and care for the wounded and sick in battle, and mobilize young people to join the revolutionary struggle. During the capture of Zunyi, the city's residents eagerly helped the Red Army. When the Red Army's vanguard troops arrived at the north gate of the new city of Zunyi, the masses took the initiative to move away the stones the enemy had used to block the city gate tunnel, allowing the Red Army's main forces to enter the city.
From February 24 to March 1, within just 5 days, the Central Red Army seized the opportunity of the enemy's heavy forces being transferred west, took advantage of the situation to strike into northern Guizhou, fought continuously, and recaptured Zunyi city. In the Zunyi Campaign, a total of 2 divisions and 8 regiments of Kuomintang troops were routed and annihilated, about 3,000 enemy troops were captured, more than 2,000 guns were seized, supplies were replenished, the arrogance of Chiang Kai-shek's direct-line troops was dealt a heavy blow, and the greatest victory since the start of the Long March was achieved.
Return to TopBy: 时和兴
"The great affairs of the state" (国之大事), as the name implies, refers to the most important, most fundamental, and most essential matters of the country. The Zuo Zhuan (Zuo Commentary), Duke Cheng, Year 13, contains the classic expression of "the great affairs of the state": "The great affairs of the state lie in sacrifice and war." The general meaning is that the most important matters of governance at that time lay in sacrifice and warfare. Sacrifice is conducted through ritual; military campaigns are carried out through arms. The earliest historical narrative combining "sacrifice and war" originates from Tang of Shang's campaign against the feudal lords. Historians link the Shang Tang revolution with the governance of the state and the nurturing of the people, which precisely accords with the logic in the Great Learning that things have their beginning and their end (物有本末, wu you ben mo - "thing, have, beginning, end"), as the saying goes, "The royal domain extends a thousand li, and it is where the people dwell."
Look at the people to know whether governance is good
Sima Qian, in the Records of the Grand Historian, "Basic Annals of Yin," states: "When people look at water, they see their form; when they look at the people, they know whether governance is good." He took the condition of popular sentiment as the standard for measuring whether state governance was good or bad. At the time of the Shang Tang revolution, Ge Bo, the ruler of the Ge state in the Xia dynasty, did not sacrifice to ancestors and spirits and unjustly killed children. Shang Tang used this as grounds to campaign against Ge Bo, destroyed the Ge state, and began the war to extinguish the Xia. Shang Tang said: "I have said before that by looking at the surface of water one can see one's own appearance, and by looking at the people one can know how the state is governed." Yi Yin said: "How wise! Only when good words are heeded can one continually understand the way of governance. In governing the state and nurturing the myriad people, all those who possess virtue and do good deeds should be appointed as officials at court. Strive, strive!" Later generations often compared the people to the water that carries the boat (载舟之水, zai zhou zhi shui - "load, boat, particle, water") and to the roots of trees, to illustrate their importance to those in power and their decisive significance for state power, viewing the people as the foundation of state governance and the root of the state's survival. The Mencius, "Duke Wen of Teng, Part II," also records: "Ge Bo was wanton and did not sacrifice," "Tang's conquest began with Ge," and "The people looked to him as they would for rain in a great drought." In fact, the Guanzi, "Shepherding the People," states: "The rise of government lies in following the people's hearts; the fall of government lies in opposing the people's hearts," which already reveals the logical starting point of state governance. "Governing the state and nurturing the people" is based on great virtue carries all things (厚德载物, hou de zai wu - "thick, virtue, carry, thing"). Shang Tang valued winning people over through virtue, used military force as a backing, and through the combination of virtue and strength caused the surrounding states to submit voluntarily. To stabilize the newly established regime, Shang Tang also placed great importance on sacrifice, using it as an important means of enhancing national cohesion. Ge Bo's "failure to sacrifice" naturally invited military conquest. Shang Tang's campaign against the feudal lords is precisely the historical narrative combining sacrifice and warfare. The phrase "The great affairs of the state lie in sacrifice and war" is a classic distillation of historical practice. The later idea of "revering Heaven and protecting the people" is a continuation of this same lineage.
The Xunzi, "Discourse on Ritual," also records: "Thus ritual serves Heaven above, serves Earth below, honors ancestors and exalts rulers and teachers — these are the three foundations of ritual." The "three foundations of ritual" constitute the core framework of the ritual system: serving Heaven above proclaims the legitimacy of the ruler's the mandate of heaven is bestowed (天命所归, tian ming suo gui - "heaven, mandate, particle, return"); serving Earth below emphasizes that the altars of state are the material foundation of the state's existence; honoring ancestors clarifies the patriarchal system of blood ties; exalting rulers and teachers means using ritual to establish state authority. The saying "Rulers and teachers are the foundation of governance" makes clear that once institutions and rules are established, governance has its fundamental basis. The foundation of the political system is the norm that state governance must follow. The Art of War also states: "War is a great affair of the state, a ground of life and death, a path of survival or destruction — it cannot be left unexamined." The so-called "path of survival or destruction" fundamentally lies in the relationship between the people and the ruler. From the perspective of "the great affairs of the state," war is not a pure contest of military strategists; having a just cause for sending forth troops means that "sacrifice and war" complement each other. The factors determining victory or defeat in war involve five elements: the "Way," "Heaven," "Earth," "Generalship," and "Law." Only by carefully planning all five matters can one calculate victory in the temple. Through analysis and overall assessment of these conditions can one decide victory from afar.
The way of dignity and bearing lies in ritual
From the relationship between "sacrifice and war," the Zuo Zhuan clearly places sacrifice before war. This is not a simple matter of word order, but rather an expression of the internal logic of "the great affairs of the state." In ancient Chinese state power, "ritual" served as the institutional mechanism for shaping political authority, and the ritual system in turn regulated political relations and standardized political order through political authority. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xiang, Year 31, also develops its early expression of "the great affairs of the state" around "ritual," reflecting the structure of social and political relations in the Zhou dynasty. In the first month of the thirty-first year of Duke Xiang, when Mu Shu of Lu returned from the alliance meeting, the ruler and ministers discussed military and state affairs and discoursed broadly on the evolution of political relations. The alliance meeting in question was in autumn 543 BCE, when high officials of Jin, Song, Wei, Zheng, Cao, Ju, Zhu, Teng, Xue, Qi, and Xiao Zhu met at Chanyuan to discuss the political crisis of Song. In the first month of the following year, Mu Shu returned from Chanyuan and met with Meng Xiaobo, a high official of Lu, saying bluntly that Zhao Meng of Jin "spoke frivolously, not like a master of the people," meaning he had no long-term vision and was unlike a master of the people. The Zuo Zhuan also records the story of "the Marquis of Wei in Chu," which specifically discusses "the way of dignity and bearing," holding that a ruler should possess the dignity and bearing of a ruler in order to win the reverence and affection of his ministers, who would then take him as their standard and emulate him, thereby enabling him to preserve the state, be renowned in all directions, and benefit later generations; and that a minister should possess the dignity and bearing of a minister in order to earn the reverence and affection of his subordinates, thereby being able to retain his office and rank, with his household secure and harmonious. By this logic, the relationship between superior and subordinate is coordinated and stable. It can be seen that the way of dignity and bearing is the institutional mechanism of the state's political relations and political order.
"Sacrifice" represents the institutional mechanism of "ritual." The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Cheng, Year 2, records Confucius's view: "Only vessels and names cannot be lent to others; they are what the ruler administers. Names produce trust, trust guards vessels, vessels contain ritual, ritual carries out righteousness, righteousness generates benefit, benefit pacifies the people — these are the great essentials of governance." "Vessels" refers to ritual vessels; "names" refers to status and title. "Vessels and names" represent sacrificial ritual. Confucius regarded sacrificial ritual as the key to state governance and the foundation of a state's rise and fall. The Book of Rites states: "Of all the ways of governing people, none is more urgent than ritual. Of the five categories of ritual, none is more important than sacrifice." Sacrificial ritual, as the foremost priority of governance in the pre-Qin era, embodied the social and political relations of the time. The political function of "ritual" in ancient China was manifested in ordering the state and regulating the people. The Zuo Zhuan states: "Ritual orders the state, stabilizes the altars of state, regulates the people, and benefits posterity." Xunzi specifically discussed "establishing the state" and "ruler and minister," saying: "Ritual is the ultimate standard of governance, the foundation of strength and stability, the way of exercising authority, and the summation of merit and fame. Kings and dukes who follow it thereby win the world; those who do not thereby lose the altars of state." Sima Guang, at the very outset of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, expounds the same principle. The high and low of social status, the near and far of social relations, the order of all things, the norms of daily affairs — all such order is regulated and adjusted by the ritual system.
The great enterprise of ordering the state
"The great affairs of the state" are seen not only in sacrifice, warfare, ritual, law, and administration, but also in the writings that govern the world and establish words for posterity. Traditional Chinese thought on governance has always valued the great affairs of ordering the state and regulating the people. Wang Fuzhi, in his Du Tongjian Lun (Reading the Comprehensive Mirror), concludes: "The ultimate of the way of governance is to examine the Book of Documents from above," and "How profound! What Sima named this work." He kept "the great affairs of the state" in mind, seeking the origins of gain and loss, in order to provide resources for governance: "The way of the ruler is there, the state's policy is there, popular sentiment is there, border defense is there, the duty of ministers is there, the integrity of ministers is there, the scholar's conduct of self-respect without disgrace is there, and learning's adherence to what is correct without deviation is there." Wang Fuzhi not only emphasized "mirror" and "comprehensiveness," but also valued narrative commentary, proposing to "extend and elaborate," "delve and seek," "broadly verify," "harmonize and unify," and "what one gains in the heart can aid others' comprehension, hence there is commentary." He specifically pointed out: "Those who discuss the world must follow the public justice of the world." "There is in the world a great public and supremely correct standard of right and wrong."
On narrative commentary on ordering the state and regulating the people, Cao Pi's view is quite typical. In his essay "On Literature" in the Dianlun (Classical Discourses), he held that writing is related to the great enterprise of governance, a grand undertaking that will be passed down through the ages and never perish. Compared with the eternal matter of writing, human life has its limit of years, and glory and pleasure can only end with one's own body; in the final analysis both are constants, yet they cannot endure through the ages like writing. After Cao Pi, the Southern Dynasties literary theorist Liu Xie, in his Wenxin Diaolong (The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons), explored the intentions behind writing, striving to make writing as magnificent as carved and painted dragon patterns, and was praised by the Qing dynasty scholar Zhang Xuecheng as "grand in scope and thorough in thought." Liu Xie opens by saying: "Great indeed is the virtue of literature! It is born together with Heaven and Earth." Literature of virtue must be "the great enterprise of ordering the state," displaying the black and yellow of Heaven and Earth, the suspended images of sun and moon, and the splendor of mountains and rivers, able to "look up and observe the radiance, look down and examine the patterns," "write the brilliance of Heaven and Earth, and enlighten the ears and eyes of the people," holding "the great affairs of the state" clearly in mind.
Reflecting deeply on the ancients' saying that writing is "the great enterprise of ordering the state," and surveying the origins and development of China's governance tradition, the inheritance and development of "the great affairs of the state" is in fact a process of the unity of knowledge and action. From "sacrifice and war" to civil governance and military achievement, from the way of dignity and bearing to the rule of ritual and law, and taking the people as the mirror and upholding the people as the foundation of the state, the cultural lineage of "the great enterprise of ordering the state" has continuously distilled the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture, manifesting "grandeur of scope," "brightness of virtue," and "thoroughness of thought," and filled with a sense of responsibility for "the great affairs of the state."
Return to TopBy: 陆帅
Wenguan Cilin (Forest of Writings from the Literary Pavilion) was a large-scale comprehensive anthology of writings spanning multiple dynasties compiled by imperial order during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty, under the direction of Zhongshu Ling (Secretariat Director) Xu Jingzong and others, and was one of the most grandly scaled officially compiled literary classics of the early Tang. In the third year of the Xianqing era of the Tang (658 CE), Zhongshu Ling Xu Jingzong submitted a memorial to Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi, reporting that the Wenguan Cilin, compiled by imperial edict, had been completed and was available for imperial perusal. In this work, from the Han and Wei dynasties, through the Six Dynasties, down to the early Tang, poetry and prose of all forms were carefully selected and exhaustively encompassed, ultimately compiled into a thousand volumes, forming a magnificent and grand spectacle (蔚为大观, wei wei da guan - "extraordinary, grand, magnificent"). The composition and compilation of writings between the Han and Tang dynasties reached its zenith here. But the value of Wenguan Cilin does not merely lie in the recovery and correction of lost texts and passages; it also contains rich clues for understanding the landscape of medieval China and the East Asian world.
Gathering the Literary Pulse of a Millennium
From the pre-Qin period down to the early Tang, the development and evolution of the Chinese literary pulse had already spanned more than a thousand years, with deep accumulation and vast volume. Poetry, rhapsodies, imperial edicts, memorials, letters and treatises, stele inscriptions, and many other genres presented a colorful and diverse display (异彩纷呈, yi cai fen cheng - "brilliant and varied"). The inheritance and continuation of this literary pulse by Wenguan Cilin begins first with its comprehensive coverage of genres. Scholar Luo Guowei once pointed out in his statistics that even within the surviving fragments of the work alone, it encompasses numerous genres including edicts (zhao), imperial commands (chi), orders (ling), instructions (jiao), memorials (biao), official letters (jian), opening communications (qi), letters (shu), proclamations of war (xi), stele inscriptions (bei), epitaphs (ming), eulogies (song), praises (zan), funeral eulogies (ai ce), condolence texts (diao wen), and sacrificial texts (ji wen), with complete content and grand scope.
In terms of organizational structure, Wenguan Cilin drew on the compilation methods of classified encyclopedias (leishu), first dividing by genre into major categories, then further subdividing under each genre into sections, and within sections into subcategories, proceeding layer by layer with meticulous analysis. For example, within the surviving fragments under the "poetry" (shi) genre, one can see the "people" (ren) section and the "rites" (li) section, beneath which are subcategories such as "presentation and response poems" (zengda) and "ceremonial offerings to Confucius" (shidian). This precise classification system in effect completed a systematic "archaeology of knowledge" of Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties literature, allowing later generations to glimpse a relatively complete picture of medieval literature.
Even more worthy of attention is the "spanning dynasties" (tongdai) perspective of Wenguan Cilin. Taking the surviving fragments as an example, the writings recorded in the work reach back to the Han and Wei dynasties and extend down to the early Tang, spanning nearly a thousand years. Opening the "stele inscriptions" (bei) category, one can read continuously from the plain and unadorned works of the Han, the rigorous and orderly style of the Wei, the gradual emergence of parallel prose in the two Jin dynasties, and the divergent styles of north and south in the Six Dynasties. The complete trajectory of a single genre's emergence and evolution over nearly a millennium is thus immediately obvious to the eye (一目了然, yi mu lian ran - "clear at a glance"). In this sense, Wenguan Cilin is not merely a preserver of Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties literature, but a foundational text through which this literary tradition came to be known, understood, and studied by later generations.
The final and deepest layer of "literary pulse" continuation is the inheritance of the spirit of literary self-consciousness since the Han and Wei dynasties. The reason Wenguan Cilin compiled writings in the vast scale of a thousand volumes is precisely its spiritual identification with the notion that writing is "a great undertaking of immortality." Toward the accumulated literary legacy of previous generations during several centuries of chaos and division, the Tang dynasty did not disparage it because of its ultimate political and military victory, but rather gave it full respect, complete acceptance, and systematic organization. In fact, from the Four Elites of the Early Tang to the great masters Yan and Xu, from the poetry of Li Bai and Du Fu to the ancient-style prose of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan, the many achievements of Tang literature were all built upon the continuation of the Chinese literary pulse. As a key hub of literary inheritance, Wenguan Cilin gathered the spark of literary self-consciousness since the Han and Wei dynasties into the profound cultural foundation of Tang civilization.
Fusing Northern and Southern Literary Styles
If "inheriting the literary pulse" was the historical mission of Wenguan Cilin facing the past, then "unifying north and south" was its practical concern responding to the times.
In the early Tang, following several centuries of division during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, political unification was already a settled matter, but the cultural estrangement between north and south had not thereby disappeared. Specifically in the composition of literary works, the southern literary style was ornate and florid, emphasizing rhetorical embellishment over substantive content; the northern literary style was plain and simple, valuing practical utility while slighting literary brilliance. The two literary traditions each formed a self-contained system and developed in parallel, with not only differences in aesthetic taste but also deeper tensions of regional identity and political legitimacy hidden beneath. How to achieve genuine "unification of north and south" culturally, as an important task facing the rulers and ministers of the early Tang, was precisely the practical significance of compiling Wenguan Cilin.
This "unification of north and south" is first manifested in the inclusive and eclectic nature of the author group. Examining the surviving fragments, one finds that the works of northern and southern literati included in the work feature both famous southern masters such as Xie Lingyun, Shen Yue, Jiang Yan, and Xu Ling, and northern literati such as Gao Yun, Xing Shao, Wei Shou, and Wen Zisheng. This selection standard that merges north and south is itself a clear statement—the cultural vision of the Tang state had already transcended the respective narratives of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, regarding all literary legacies of the period of division as organic components of Chinese civilization.
The arrangement of genre classification is another dimension of the "unification of north and south." Wenguan Cilin has a striking feature: practical genres emphasized by the north, such as edicts (zhao), imperial commands (chi), orders (ling), and instructions (jiao), occupy a considerable volume, forming a sharp contrast with the preference of southern anthologies like Wenxuan (Selections of Refined Literature) for poetry and rhapsodies. As earlier scholars have noted, this emphasis on practical genres reflects the continuation and legitimization of the northern literary tradition in the early Tang. At the same time, genres in which the south excelled, such as eulogies (song) and praises (zan), were also included, with even more detailed classification. In other words, the compilation and arrangement of Wenguan Cilin is itself a dialogue and fusion of the northern and southern literary traditions. When works from north and south are listed side by side under the same genre, readers are provided with a comparative perspective on their differences. The recognition, comparison, and reflection on these differences further became the precondition for deep integration of both sides.
When the compilation of Wenguan Cilin is placed within the broader historical context of the early Tang, the significance of this "unification of north and south" becomes even clearer. Beginning in the Zhenguan era, the Tang dynasty systematically advanced a series of national cultural projects aimed at reconstructing a unified identity. At the level of Confucian classics, there was the Wujing Zhengyi (Correct Meanings of the Five Classics) compiled by imperial order by Kong Yingda, by which the standards of classical commentary and annotation were unified, giving scholars throughout the realm a common standard to follow; at the level of historical narrative, there was the successive compilation of officially commissioned histories such as the Jin Shu (Book of Jin), Bei Qi Shu (Book of Northern Qi), and Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), providing unified historical positioning and legitimacy judgments for the various regimes of the period of division; and at the level of literary compilation, Wenguan Cilin was the most representative achievement. Classical studies fixed its thought, historiography corrected its origins, and literature gathered its writings—the three supported one another and advanced in tandem, relying on authoritative officially compiled texts to shape a cultural identity that transcended regions and bridged north and south, jointly constructing the magnificent picture of the early Tang's great project of cultural unification.
Spreading the Splendor of the High Tang Far Afield
In the seventh century CE, the Tang dynasty's territory extended east to the sea, west beyond the Congling (Pamir) Mountains, north across the great desert, and south to Jiaozhi, with political influence radiating across the Eurasian continent. With a spirit of pluralism and openness, it "created a new world order." Within the city of Chang'an and along the Silk Road, Turkic guards, Sogdian merchants, Silla envoys, Japanese kentōshi (envoys to the Tang), and monks studying abroad came and went in a continuous stream (络绎不绝, luo yi bu jue - "continuous, in an endless stream"). The Li regime under Emperor Gaozong was undoubtedly a veritable "cosmopolitan (world-minded) dynasty."
The cultural influence of Wenguan Cilin thus extended beyond the borders of the Tang realm. The millennium of accumulated Chinese literary pulse, bolstered by the national power of the Tang, became a model of literary composition admired and looked up to throughout the entire East Asian Sinographic cultural sphere. History records that in the second year of the Chuigong era of the Tang (686 CE), the king of Silla sent envoys to Chang'an, "requesting the Book of Rites and miscellaneous writings," and the court ordered the relevant offices to "copy the essential rituals for auspicious and inauspicious occasions, and from Wenguan Cilin select passages whose wording touched upon admonition and exhortation, compiling them into fifty volumes to bestow upon them." Thus Wenguan Cilin was not only a literary model for the state of Silla, but also carried the dual functions of cultural dissemination and political edification, and the dominant position of the Tang in this cultural export is thereby clearly visible.At this point, Wenguan Cilin also completed its transformation of identity from "Chinese classic" to "East Asian exemplar," becoming a concrete embodiment of the dissemination and radiation of Chinese civilization in the East Asian world.
Today, more than 1,300 years later, looking back at this magnificent work that displayed literary virtue through the ages and established its reputation among all nations, its vicissitudinous fate is indeed deeply moving. With its thousand volumes it preserved a backup of Chinese writings, allowing the literary pulse to endure through the ages; with its single grand compilation it unified northern and southern literary styles, shaping an inclusive and eclectic cultural foundation; and it transcended borders to become a model of literary composition shared and admired throughout East Asia. The historical significance of Wenguan Cilin for China and the East Asian world lies precisely here. (The author is the chair of the Department of History at Nanjing Normal University.)
Return to TopBy: 林华
In the genealogy of modern Latin American architecture, Argentina's Mariano Moreno National Library stands out in a class of its own with its highly subversive spatial expression, serving as a classic representative work of 20th-century Brutalist architecture and the most recognizable urban cultural landmark in Buenos Aires. This national-level building, completed in 1992, completely shattered the inherent design logic of traditional libraries, constructing an "inverted" temple of knowledge through reverse spatial layout and a tree-shaped suspended structural form. Its architectural configuration is not only a breakthrough in modern engineering technology but also a profound metaphor for Argentina's postwar national development philosophy and cultural spirit.
The Mariano Moreno National Library abandons the refined and elaborate European revivalist ornamentation of traditional public buildings, featuring the raw texture of exposed concrete, simple architectural structures, and colossal sculptural massing as its core characteristics, manifesting a pure and austere modern architectural aesthetic. The building adopts a unique four-legged load-bearing design, relying on four groups of giant vertical core tubes that, like thick tree trunks, support the reading main space weighing 7,800 tons above, with the entire ground floor completely elevated and unenclosed by walls, forming a transparent and open public realm. The giant cantilevered platform facing Avenida del Libertador constructs an exclusive "urban balcony," shaping a unique fifth facade of the building and breaking down the barriers between architecture, the city, and nature. Large expanses of full-height glazing run through the reading space, drawing the urban landscape and river views indoors, creating a clever contrast between the rough, heavy building materials and the transparent, dynamic natural vistas, combining strength with flexibility (刚柔并济, gang rou bing ji - "hard, soft, combine, assist").
In stark contrast to the conventional library model in which reading areas occupy the center and book stacks line the walls, the Mariano Moreno National Library subverts the traditional functional layout of libraries by placing all book storage warehouses in three levels of underground space, centrally collecting and properly preserving vast quantities of documents and classics. Correspondingly, the core public spaces for reading and seminars are located on the upper floors of the building, allowing activities of knowledge learning and intellectual exploration to complement each other to enhance brilliance (相得益彰, xiang de yi zhang - "mutually, benefit, enhance, shine") with the open spaces. This spatial separation embodies a dual metaphor: on the one hand, it separates static document storage from dynamic intellectual engagement, using spatial contrast to interpret the cultural logic of accumulating history and enlightening the future; on the other hand, the ground floor is completely open and connected, with green spaces, parks, and the building's plaza seamlessly linked, freely open to all citizens, supremely interpreting the core purpose of public cultural architecture in benefiting the masses and dissolving class barriers. This subversive building is also a vivid microcosm of Argentina's era of development. The building's architectural scheme was jointly designed by Clorindo Testa, Francisco Bullrich, and Alicia Cazzaniga, winning the bid and being finalized in 1961, with construction officially commencing in 1971. The preparation and construction cycle spanned more than 30 years, undergoing many vicissitudes (跌宕变迁, die dang bian qian - "ups and downs, change, transition") in Argentine society, and completely preserving the course of Argentina's national modernization exploration. In terms of architectural style, its raw and rugged architectural idiom, breaking free from the constraints of European classicism, represents Argentina's proactive exploration of a local modern architectural language and the shaping of national cultural symbols; while its forward-looking open and inclusive spatial design echoes the postwar Argentine era's demand for advancing the equalization of public culture and empowering social development through culture.
The development trajectory of the Mariano Moreno National Library also resonates in harmony with (同频共振, tong pin gong zhen - "same, frequency, together, vibrate") its cultural mission, gradually growing from an ideological bastion of the independence revolution into a core hub supporting national cultural development and leading Latin American cultural construction. Its history can be traced back to the period of Argentina's independence movement in 1810. To break the shackles of Spanish colonial culture and shape the nation's independent consciousness, the First Junta of government at the time issued a decree establishing the Buenos Aires Public Library (the predecessor of the Mariano Moreno National Library), with the jurist and thinker Mariano Moreno as the core promoter and founder, thereby establishing the library's original commitment to serving the nation and its people. At the time of its founding, the collection was largely derived from confiscated church books, donations from aristocrats and revolutionary generals, and other sources, but all books were freely open to ordinary citizens, with the dissemination of books, intellectual enlightenment, and discourse construction as its core mission, helping Argentina cultivate a local public discourse system and construct an independent national identity. In 2013, the Argentine government enacted legislation, fixing the library's name as the "Mariano Moreno National Library" in legal form, an act that also completed the historical recognition of the revolutionary pioneer.
After the completion of the new building, the Mariano Moreno National Library entered a stage of diverse and inclusive high-quality development, with public cultural universal benefit and regional industry leadership becoming important missions. Under the promotion of successive directors including Horacio González, the library completed multiple innovations. It established the Book and Language Museum, transforming static collections into popular public cultural exhibition resources; continuously improved the national bibliography system, breaking down information barriers caused by class, region, and language, striving to achieve cultural universal benefit for all citizens, and gradually growing into a benchmark for the development of the library sector in Latin America. The Mariano Moreno National Library adheres to the philosophy of openness to all citizens and public welfare service, freely providing basic services such as on-site reading and online document retrieval; relying on its permanent exhibition halls, the Borges Auditorium, and the Book and Language Museum, it regularly carries out thematic exhibitions, academic lectures, reading clubs, and cultural popularization activities, systematically sorting through Argentina's language and writing, reading culture, and national development history, allowing academic resources to comprehensively benefit ordinary citizens and achieving the shared enjoyment of cultural resources by the whole people.
The Mariano Moreno National Library has maintained an independent publishing department since the 1860s, continuously publishing and distributing facsimile reprints of its collections, literary and historical research monographs, literary classics, children's books, professional textbooks on library science, academic journals, and more, integrating the achievements of domestic scholars and continuously filling gaps in niche academic publications. In addition, through long-term self-organized special research projects on literature, American history, and document preservation, it has built platforms for domestic and international academic exchange, relying on its vast collections to support basic research in Argentina's humanities and social sciences. The Mariano Moreno National Library has now become a composite national-level cultural institution integrating national document preservation, industry standard-setting, library management education, public cultural dissemination, publishing, and academic research, not only recording Argentina's more than 200 years of independence and development but also fully interpreting the deep cultural value of a modern national library that transcends the function of book storage.
Beneath the earth lie Argentina's more than 200 years of independence memory, colonial reflection, and national cultural lineage — the weighty foundation of national civilization; above the city stands the era's mission of enlightening the people and disseminating culture — the spiritual symbol of national development. This unique spatial metaphor and cultural mission perfectly interpret a nation's cultural development logic of remembering history while facing the future.
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