Keep in mind: Firmly Grasp the "Ox's Nose" of the Responsibility System [1]
Common Wisdom: Firmly Grasp the "Ox's Nose" of the Responsibility System [1]
The deep implementation of the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations relies on firmly grasping the "ox's nose" of the responsibility system, and on Party organizations at all levels as well as leading cadres who are Party members effectively taking up their responsibilities. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is the common responsibility of the entire Party. We must establish and improve a responsibility system categorized by level and type, so as to clarify, press home, and consolidate responsibility [2], thereby driving Party organizations at all levels and the vast number of Party members and cadres to understand, shoulder, and perform their duties." In the New Era and on the new journey, we must keep firmly in mind that strengthening conduct building [3] is the common responsibility of the whole Party. We must link this to the current situation and tasks of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, accurately grasp the regional, industrial, and phased characteristics of conduct building, and ensure that each level leads the one below it, with implementation handled layer by layer. This will push for the fulfillment of responsible subjects, the fulfillment of responsibility requirements, and the fulfillment of assessment and accountability.
Our Party has always attached great importance to strengthening the building of the Party’s conduct, and has endowed conduct building with new connotations of the times in accordance with the changes in the missions and tasks undertaken by the Party. Issues of conduct are, in essence, issues of Party spirit [4]. Party spirit is the concentrated expression of the Party's nature and purpose, and it is also the important cornerstone for Party members to cultivate their morality, conduct themselves, and establish their careers. The Party's conduct can only be perceived and understood by the people when it is manifested through the daily words and deeds, performance of duties, entrepreneurial endeavors, and public service of every Party member. The process of strengthening the Party's conduct building is, in substance, a practical process for Party members to improve their political awareness and enhance their Party spirit. The building of the Party's conduct is not the sole responsibility of any single level of Party organization, or a specific leading cadre or Party member; rather, it is the common responsibility of Party organizations at all levels, leading cadres at all levels—especially the "top leaders" [5]—and all Party members and cadres; it is the common responsibility of the whole Party. We must regard the deep implementation of the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations as a major and serious political task. We must persist in having leaders take the lead in practice and in management, with the higher levels leading the lower levels and all levels working with one heart. We must use the "key minority" [6] to demonstrate and drive the "vast majority," strengthening our resolve, fostering habits, and reflecting the qualities of being responsible, guarding responsibility, and fulfilling responsibility in every Party organization and every post.
The changes brought about by the central Eight-Point Regulations are comprehensive, profound, far-reaching, and inspiring. While recognizing our achievements, we must also see that the "Four Tests" and "Four Dangers" [7] facing the Party will exist for a long time, and prominent problems within the Party such as impurity in ideology, organization, and conduct have not yet been fundamentally resolved. Conduct building is always a work in progress; grasping the Party's conduct building is a process with only a "present tense" and no "perfect tense." Implementing the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations is both a battle of attrition and a protracted war. To deeply implement the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations and strengthen the Party's conduct building in the New Era and on the new journey, we must be adept at finding our position within the new situation and tasks of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, profoundly recognizing the new situation and tasks we face, and promoting the fulfillment of responsibility requirements. We must be adept at accurately grasping the regional, industrial, and phased characteristics of strengthening the Party's conduct building, maintaining a clear head, reinforcing ideological consciousness, and mastering historical initiative. We must exhibit perseverance and stamina, deploy "hard moves" and practical strategies, advance despite difficulties, face challenges head-on, persist over the long term, and maintain a constant, unremitting effort.
Whether the responsibility for improving Party conduct and building a clean government can be shouldered depends crucially on the effective implementation of "primary responsibility" [8]. The focus should be on managing until habits are formed, grasping until results are achieved, and transforming conduct into established custom, thereby ensuring that assessment and accountability are fulfilled. Grasping a task without firmness is equivalent to not grasping it at all; grasping a task without practical results is equivalent to grasping it in vain. Assessment and accountability are important ways and means to test whether the responsibility system has been grounded and implemented. We must persist in "strengthening the foundation and nurturing the source" [9] and "clearing the turbid and strengthening the pure" [10]. We must deeply study and grasp General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on Party building and his important thought on the Party’s self-revolution. Specifically, in combination with education on the deep implementation of the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations, we must solve the problem of the "master switch" [11], removing ideological obstacles and injecting spiritual impetus for changing and transforming conduct, while identifying and refining the "coordinate system" and "weights and measures" for assessment and accountability. We must persist in keeping the masses in our hearts, following the Party's mass line in the New Era, and "sitting our butts firmly on the side of the common people" [12]. We must ensure that the results of the Party's conduct building are perceptible and accessible to the masses, dare to conduct assessments behind open doors, let the masses act as the "examiners," and continuously improve the channels and pathways for mass participation in accountability and assessment. We must persist in institutional Party governance and governing the Party in accordance with regulations, improving the systems and mechanisms for conduct building accountability and assessment, placing greater emphasis on implementation, and promoting the normalization and long-term effectiveness of conduct building. We must persist in "getting real and getting tough" [13] and dare to struggle. In assessment and accountability, we must be adept at applying and reflecting the integrated approach of grasping Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline together, aligning the transformation of conduct, the tightening of discipline, and the fight against corruption. We must maintain the "strict" keynote, "strict" measures, and "strict" atmosphere over the long term, ensuring the Party never changes its nature, its conviction, or its character [14] through new achievements in comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and new results in conduct building.
Web Editor: Tongxin Source: Study Times (《学习时报》), May 30, 2025, Page 1