Wang Xiaohan: Deeply Grasping the Profound Connotations of the Central Eight-Point Regulations and Their Spirit
By Wang Xiaohan
Editor’s Note: In order to earnestly carry out study and education on the deep implementation of the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations, and to push the youth of this Academy to deeply study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on strengthening the Party's work style construction, an atmosphere of integrity and righteousness must be consciously created within our political ecosystem and academic ecosystem. The Communist Youth League Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), in collaboration with the Chinese Social Sciences Net, has launched a special column titled "Social Science Youth Talk: Study and Education on the Deep Implementation of the Spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations." We have invited outstanding young cadres and scholars from our Academy to write interpretative articles based on their insights and practical experiences in implementing the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations and their implementation rules. These articles demonstrate the high degree of political, ideological, and behavioral consciousness among our Academy’s youth, contributing youthful strength to the opening of a new chapter in the political construction of our Academy through new achievements in work style construction.
Wang Xiaohan, PhD in Law, is an Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a Director of the CASS Center for Socialist Democracy Research. Her research interests include democratic theory and practice, principles of Party building, and State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) Party building and governance in the New Era. She has published numerous academic papers in core journals such as the Journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC (National Academy of Governance), Chinese Leadership Science, and Administration and Law. She has also published theoretical articles in newspapers such as the China Social Sciences Today, with some works reprinted in full by Information Center for Social Sciences, RUC. She has led research projects for the CASS Center for Socialist Democracy Research and participated in key projects of the National Social Science Fund of China and major innovation projects of CASS. She was awarded the second prize in the CASS 2025 "Social Science Youth Lunar New Year Return-to-Home Survey Report."
In December 2012, at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee deliberating on the Eight-Point Regulations for improving work style and maintaining close ties with the masses, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that regulations are regulations; by not adding the words "trial implementation," we are signaling a firm attitude and showing that these regulations are rigid. This move broke the convention of inner-Party regulation formulation [1] and released the Central Committee’s determination and confidence to rigorously grasp work style construction. Work style construction is a war of attrition; it is "always on the road." Deeply grasping the rich connotations of the central Eight-Point Regulations and their spirit is of great value and significance for maintaining a firm people-centered stance, cultivating a simple and modest style, and thereby enhancing the effectiveness of social governance.
Setting the People’s Virtue in Order, Shouldering the Mission with One Heart
The people-centered stance is the fundamental political stance of the Communist Party of China. Throughout Party history, the expositions by Party and state leaders—such as the "seeds and soil theory," the "fish and water theory," the "friendship theory," the "teacher and student theory," the "instrument theory," the "flesh and blood theory," the "father and son theory," and the "public servant theory"—as well as the "people as the mountains and rivers" [2] theory emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping, all run through a single primary thread, which is also the lifeline of a Marxist ruling party: the Party cannot be detached from the masses, and the Party holds no power above the people. Marxism is the most fundamental, profound, and unshakable academic tradition of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. We should establish our original academic aspiration of "doing scholarship for the people" based on the basic principles of Marxism and draw a scientific spirit from academic research, especially the study of academic history. From Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we should excavate the worldview and methodology for constructing a "Chinese School" [3]; sense the power of truth that transcends time and space, maintain theoretical clarity and thoroughness, and further serve the current and future development plans of the nation and the people.
Remaining Tireless in Duty, Acting with Loyalty
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that on the issue of work style, the decisive factor is Party spirit. Grasping work style construction means thinking about and forging the capacity and responsibility to serve the people based on the requirements for the advanced nature and purity of a Marxist ruling party. Since the 18th National Congress, the Central Committee has used the central Eight-Point Regulations to break new ground, demonstrating a firm resolve to comprehensively and strictly govern the Party with the persistence of being "always on the road," and the "winds" of extravagance and hedonism have been effectively curbed. Compared to the specific items of the central Eight-Point Regulations, the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations directly targets the problems of formalism and bureaucratism within the Four Winds, emphasizing a thorough spirit of practical work to attack actual problems that violate Party spirit and reduce efficiency.
Practical work means not being slack while in office, maintaining consistency between thought and action in a simple manner, and serving the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics with an innovative spirit of "daring to make the sun and moon shine in new skies" [4] and a practical attitude of "knowing that this matter must be practiced personally." In the process of deeply implementing the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations, we should make self-reflection and self-correction regarding our work and life styles a long-term habit. We must avoid being like the "reeds on the wall—heavy-headed, thin-stemmed, and shallow-rooted" or the "bamboo shoots in the mountains—sharp-tongued, thick-skinned, and hollow-bellied" [5]. We must overcome the atmosphere of impetuousness and unhealthy tendencies and throw ourselves into the deepest currents of the era. Through systematic and meticulous investigation and research, we should move toward a scientific and rigorous exploration of objective laws, forming research results that can withstand the test of history and practice.
To Know the Circle and Square, One Must Have the Compass and Rule
"Realizing the institutionalization, standardization, and normalization of work style construction" reflects the systematic grasp of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core regarding the simultaneous application of ideological Party building and institutional Party governance. While concentrated education and rectification campaigns are necessary for work style construction, the fundamental solution lies in institutional enforcement. The key to institutional enforcement lies in breaking ground through "stock" reform of existing mechanisms and "incremental" innovation of new ones, landing these efforts within a perfected system of regulations for work style construction.
The central Eight-Point Regulations were the first important inner-Party regulation formulated after the 18th National Congress and served as the entry point for improving work style. As a key lever for strengthening work style in the New Era, the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations does not directly produce punitive effects itself. Rather, it operates based on a multi-level system of inner-Party regulations—such as the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action, the Regulations on CPC Accountability, the Regulations on Practicing Thrift and Opposing Waste in Party and Government Organs, the Regulations on Education and Management of CPC Members, the Code of CPC Integrity and Self-Discipline, and the Certain Provisions on Rectifying Formalism to Reduce Burdens at the Grassroots. This accords the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations the status of a legal source. It can be said that the reason the Eight-Point Regulations and their spirit have won the people's hearts is, on one hand, their theoretical logic of relying on human nature, upholding the rigidity of Party spirit, and seeking high moral character; and on the other hand, their practical process of simultaneous ideological building and institutional governance, as well as the coordinated advancement of institutional governance and governing the Party in accordance with regulations.
One Move on the Board Enlivens the Whole Game
From the "Red Boat" on South Lake to the giant ship of national rejuvenation, from the Shikumen to Tiananmen [6], throughout the arduous history of the CPC, our Party has always led social trends and advocated for the new spirit of the times through its fine work style. Given the Party’s status as the world’s largest political party, the work style construction of nearly 100 million members inevitably radiates to and influences the governance effectiveness of 1.4 billion Chinese people and even the entire globe. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the implementation of the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations vividly demonstrate our Party’s powerful strength of truth and personality.
When the single piece of the Eight-Point Regulations is placed on the board, the entire game of work style construction is enlivened. At a deeper level, this also implies that if self-revolution is carried out to the end, social revolution will follow naturally; if Party spirit and work style are faithful and pure, the social and folk atmosphere will be widely acclaimed. As members of a political organ and as glorious Communist Party members, we should continuously improve our cultivation of Party spirit, persist in following the Party’s mass line, cultivate noble moral sentiments and healthy life pursuits, and use a style of practical work to help society as a whole form a favorable atmosphere of respecting virtue, seeking goodness, and engaging in arduous struggle.