Zhang Jianhua: Advancing Study and Education with Depth and Substance through an Excellent Work Style [1]

2025-06-17 Eight-Point Regulations Campaign

Author: Zhang Jianhua

Since the launch of the learning and education program to thoroughly implement the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations, Party organizations at all levels in Tongzhou District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, have earnestly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on strengthening the Party's conduct ^[1]. They have educated and guided the vast number of Party members and officials to temper their conduct, hone their Party spirit, and increase their political awareness. This effort has sustained a spirited ethos of "putting action first and striving for excellence," striving to transform the achievements of learning and education into a powerful driving force and tangible results for "striving to be the vanguard of high-quality development in the city."

Adhere to scientific coordination to advance the start of learning and education with a higher political standing. Learning and education are treated as key tasks of Party building for this year. By leading from the top and mobilizing at every level, the district moves forward with all tasks of learning and education through high political self-awareness, a strong sense of mission and responsibility, and strict discipline and rules.

First, meticulous planning and deployment. Meetings of the District Party Committee Standing Committee and the District Party Building Leading Group were convened to fully implement the deployment requirements of the central, provincial, and municipal Party Building Leading Groups. There is a profound understanding that this learning and education program is an inevitable requirement for implementing the general layout of Party building and for resolving prominent issues in conduct construction; subsequently, the district-wide program was swiftly launched. A dedicated work task force was immediately established to draft implementation plans and accurately grasp target tasks, which were refined into 27 major tasks and daily arrangements to ensure that learning and education are focused and well-paced. A weekly meeting mechanism for learning and education has been established to regularly convey instructions from higher authorities, schedule work progress, and manage the process, ensuring that the direction of the district-wide program does not waver and that all steps are synchronized. By leading by example and using key points to drive the whole area, the district has integrated research and guidance for grassroots units into the "District Leaders' Universal Hook-up" ^[2] work, fostering a favorable situation of high-level attention and implementation at every level.

Second, strengthening classified guidance. Based on the realities of different levels and subjects, five key work lists were formulated for different categories, clarifying 15 major tasks across four areas. Member units of the District Party Building Leading Group have achieved full-coverage "hook-up" contact ^[2] with all 14 towns (subdistricts) in the district. Six working committees are implementing learning and education in various fields along functional lines, continuously strengthening contact and guidance throughout the entire process. 148 grassroots Party building instructors were dispatched to connect with 299 "Two New" Party organizations ^[3], providing face-to-face explanations of key requirements, hand-holding guidance on methods, and one-on-one precise reminders. To address the difficulty of centralized study for 9,190 Party members in the "Two Enterprises and Three New" ^[4] sectors and 904 floating Party members, platforms such as the "Xin Xin Tong" for new employment groups and "Driver's Homes" were utilized to upload learning materials in a timely manner, facilitating self-study.

Third, emphasizing simplicity and pragmatism. The district persists in combining holistic advancement with classified guidance, integrating learning and education with the promotion of central tasks, and combining learning and education with the rectification of formalism to reduce burdens on the grassroots. By distinguishing between different levels, fields, and industries and strengthening classified guidance, the district solidifies "prescribed actions" ^[5] and ensures that good conduct guarantees good results in learning and education. Mainstream media and new media platforms are used to publicize the effectiveness and experience of thoroughly implementing the Eight-Point Regulations, promote excellent cases and advanced models of conduct construction, and reflect the progress of learning and education.

Focus on key priorities to advance the precision of learning and education with stricter standards. The district persists in learning, benchmarking, identifying problems, and rectifying simultaneously, integrating learning and education into daily routines and regular practice. By advancing "study, identification, and rectification" as an integrated whole, the district ensures quality in learning, vigor in identification, and effectiveness in rectification.

First, deep study and thorough comprehension to build a foundation. Systems such as the "First Topic" ^[6], Theoretical Center Group study, and special reading classes are earnestly implemented. District leaders have taken the lead in theoretical study, leading the line-by-line reading of the Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Expositions on Strengthening the Party's Conduct. Forty-five comrades focused on the theme of study, conducting centralized exchanges of their ideological understanding and insights, sending a strong signal of leading officials taking the initiative and setting an example. Emphasis is placed on regular study through carriers like the "Three Meetings and One Lesson" ^[7] and Theme Party Days, pushing Party members and officials to study the original texts and internalize their meaning, ensuring that the theories are internalized in the heart and externalized in action. The spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations and its implementation rules have been incorporated into the "Ten Thousand Ordinary Party Members Enter the Party School" activity and core training classes for cadre education, Party activists, and Party workers, helping officials draw ideological "red lines," clarify behavioral boundaries, and understand what can and cannot be done.

Second, reaching the level of thought to identify deficiencies. Developing the spirit of self-revolution, focusing on two problem lists and 28 categories, leadership groups and leading officials have taken the lead in self-identification. Through comprehensive use of disciplinary inspection, supervision, and inspection tours (巡视巡察), six county-level leadership groups identified 58 problems. A "Five Checks and Five Observations" ^[8] on conduct and discipline was deployed across the district's towns, subdistricts, and 78 organs and enterprises, pushing Party members to involve themselves personally, identifying both common and individual problems, as well as problems in conduct and thought, accurately identifying 419 issues. Using typical cases of the "Four Winds," "case-based education" ^[9] was carried out regarding morality, discipline, law, and responsibility, organizing members to conduct comprehensive reviews and root-cause analysis, ensuring that "mistakes are corrected while others are encouraged by the example."

Third, tackling tough issues with earnest rectification. For problems requiring centralized rectification, a "Four Specials" mechanism—specialized personnel, special research, special rectification, and special task force supervision—was established. Rectification measures were formulated item by item with "account cancellation" management ^[10]. Long-term mechanisms are improved to bridge "immediate rectification" and "long-term establishment" ^[11]. Root causes of common problems are addressed to use "small incisions" to leverage "major changes," achieving a situation where specific grips drive the overall situation. Leading officials take active responsibility for their own rectification and for the learning and education within their sectors and departments, ensuring that wherever business work extends, the governance of the Party follows. Mechanisms for rectification reporting, supervision, following-up on effectiveness, and comprehensive evaluation are established, with public approval as the standard, resolutely preventing superficial, false, or "on-paper" rectification.

Highlight the integration of study and application to ensure the effectiveness of learning and education with a more practical style. Conduct construction serves the overall work of the Party. It encourages Party members and officials to act boldly under the premise of observing regulations, discipline, and integrity, turning the "cries of the masses into applause."

First, boosting the passion for action. The district vigorously promotes the spirit of "passionate struggle, innovation and excellence, and pragmatic responsibility," fully stimulating a first-class conduct of forging ahead and overcoming difficulties. We shift from "waiting and relying" to "striving and trying," and from "searching for precedents" to "creating precedents," daring to act and succeeding in action to create more development achievements. Investment promotion is always treated as the primary battlefield for expanding investment and increasing momentum, focusing on leading industries to achieve greater breakthroughs. We deeply carry out the "One Branch, One Practical Deed; One Member, One Promise" activity, focusing on the urgent needs and anxieties of the masses. 2,265 Party branches have selected practical projects and are organizing their implementation, truly turning the "concerns in the hearts" of the masses into "matters on the minds" of Party members.

Second, deepening investigation and research. Deeply practicing the "Four Downward Journeys" ^[12], the 10th of every month is designated as "Investigation Day," pushing officials to go down to the grassroots to understand the people's situation and hold the truth. They devise real and effective measures to solve difficult problems, ensuring that the process of investigation and research becomes a process of deepening the understanding of the Party's innovative theories, maintaining close ties with the masses, and promoting the development of the cause. The district deepens activities for officials to serve enterprises, focusing on corporate needs and official concerns, refining positive and negative lists for interactions between government organs and private enterprises to accelerate the construction of a "pro-business and clean" ^[13] relationship. A mechanism for "opening doors to receive petitions, carrying out downward visits for cases, conducting key visits, regular appointments, and joint receptions" has been established. 860 "Two Representatives and One Committee Member" ^[14] have entered villages and communities to conduct joint receptions, collecting 3,246 problems reported by the masses, with 2,236 cases already settled, discovering hidden dangers at the front end and resolving problems in their infancy to create a harmonious and stable development environment.

Third, creating a clear and upright ecosystem. By building an effective and long-term supervision system, we ensure that budding tendencies are met with reminders, disciplinary and legal violations are met with punishment, institutional loopholes are met with repairs, and education and guidance are organized. Truly deepening the integrated advancement of "not daring to be, not being able to be, and not wanting to be corrupt." Treating the lead taken by Party and government organs in "living frugally" ^[15] as a long-term policy orientation, the "Notice on Certain Measures to Strictly Implement the Requirement for Party and Government Organs to Live Frugally in Tongzhou District" was issued. We increased the intensity of fund coordination, comprehensively reduced administrative costs, standardized project expenditure budgeting, and hardened budget execution constraints. We continue to deepen the centralized rectification of misconduct and corruption around the masses, selecting five areas such as rural collective "three assets" ^[16] and land acquisition/resettlement as application scenarios for the supervision system of state-owned assets to effectively eradicate the soil for corruption. We firmly establish the clear orientation of "valuing practical work and emphasizing actual results," fostering a good trend of working hard and burying one's head in toil. Adhering to the "Three Distinctions" ^[17], we flagrantly encourage those who dare to act and support those who take responsibility, driving the enthusiasm of all parties to push the "14th Five-Year Plan" to a successful conclusion with the posture of a vanguard.

(The author is a member of the Standing Committee of the Nantong Municipal Party Committee of Jiangsu Province, Secretary of the Tongzhou District Party Committee, and Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the High-tech Industrial Development Zone.) Source: Study Times, June 11, 2025, Page 6.

Notes

↩ [1] 作风建设 (zuòfēng jiànshè): Conduct construction (or "style of work construction"). In Chinese Marxist discourse, this refers to the Party's efforts to improve the behavior, attitude, and moral standards of its members, specifically targeting issues like corruption and bureaucracy.
↩ [2] 全挂钩 / 挂钩联系 (quán guàgōu / guàgōu liánxì): "Universal Hook-up" or "Hook-up contact." A Chinese administrative practice where higher-level officials or departments are assigned specific responsibility for overseeing, assisting, or "hooking up" with a lower-level unit or project to ensure accountability and implementation.
↩ [3] “两新”党组织 ("liǎng xīn" dǎng zǔzhī): "Two New" Party organizations. This refers to Party branches established in "new economic organizations" (private enterprises) and "new social organizations" (NGOs, associations, etc.).
↩ [4] “两企三新” ("liǎng qǐ sān xīn"): "Two Enterprises and Three New." A contemporary expansion referring to private enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, and "three new" groups: new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new employment groups (such as delivery drivers and gig workers).
↩ [5] 规定动作 (guīdìng dòngzuò): Prescribed actions. A term borrowed from gymnastics, used in CPC campaigns to refer to the mandatory tasks required by higher authorities, as opposed to "self-selected actions" (自选动作) initiated by local units.
↩ [6] “第一议题” (dì-yī yìtí): "First Topic." A mechanism where every meeting of a Party committee or organization must first begin with the study of Xi Jinping's latest speeches or central Party documents.
↩ [7] “三会一课” (sān huì yī kè): "Three Meetings and One Lesson." The basic system of Party branch life, consisting of a general meeting of branch members, a meeting of the branch committee, a meeting of Party groups, and a Party lecture (lesson).
↩ [8] 五查五看 (wǔ chá wǔ kàn): "Five Checks and Five Observations." A local self-correction campaign format where officials are required to examine five specific areas of their conduct and observe the subsequent results or alignment with standards.
↩ [9] 以案说德、以案说纪、以案说法、以案说责 (yǐ àn shuō...): Case-based education focused on morality, discipline, law, and responsibility. A method of using specific corruption or disciplinary cases to educate Party members through negative examples.
↩ [10] 销号管理 (xiāohào guǎnlǐ): Account-cancellation management. A management technique where each identified problem is listed in a "ledger" and is only "struck off" or "canceled" once it has been verified as fully rectified.
↩ [11] 当下改 / 长久立 (dāngxià gǎi / chángjiǔ lì): "Immediate rectification" and "long-term establishment." A phrase emphasizing both the immediate correction of specific errors and the creation of permanent institutional rules to prevent their recurrence.
↩ [12] 四下基层 (sì xià jīcéng): "Four Downward Journeys." A practice initiated by Xi Jinping in Ningde (1988), involving officials going down to the grassroots to: 1) publicize the Party's line; 2) conduct research; 3) handle petitions; and 4) conduct on-site work.
↩ [13] 亲清政商关系 (qīn qīng zhèngshāng guānxì): "Pro-business and clean" relationship. This refers to the CPC's guideline for relations between officials and entrepreneurs: "pro" (cordial and supportive) but "clean" (transparent and free from corruption).
↩ [14] 两代表一委员 (liǎng dàibiǎo yī wěiyuán): "Two Representatives and One Committee Member." Refers to representatives to the Party Congress, representatives to the People’s Congress, and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
↩ [15] 过紧日子 (guò jǐn rìzi): Living frugally (or "tighten one's belt"). A policy requirement for government agencies to reduce administrative spending to prioritize public welfare and economic development.
↩ [16] 农村集体“三资” (nóngcūn jítǐ "sān zī"): Rural collective "Three Assets." Refers to collective funds, collective assets (e.g., buildings/equipment), and collective resources (e.g., land/forests) in rural villages.
↩ [17] 三个区分开来 (sān gè qūfèn kāilái): The "Three Distinctions." A policy to encourage innovation by distinguishing between: 1) mistakes in pilot reforms due to lack of experience; 2) technical errors in advancing work; and 3) intentional violations of discipline and law. Only the latter are severely punished.