Zhao Xiaona: Persistently Implementing the Spirit of the Central Committee's Eight-point Regulation
Since the introduction of the Central Eight-Point Regulations, they have become a landmark measure for transforming the political ecosystem and the face of society. Party members and cadres have deeply studied and implemented the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, achieving significant results and accumulating rich experience. The change in the conduct of Party members and cadres has given the masses a tangible sense of gain [1], made the relationship between cadres and the masses more harmonious, and further unified the hearts of the Party and the people. The effectiveness of conduct construction is obvious to all. To ensure the continuous improvement of the Party’s conduct, the Eight-Point Regulations are neither the highest standard nor the ultimate goal; they represent only our first step in improving conduct. On this basis, the 2025 "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Central Eight-Point Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Detailed Rules") were promulgated to further advance the development of the Party’s conduct construction and deepen the Party’s understanding of this task.
Embodying the Spirit of the Party’s Self-Revolution
The "Detailed Rules" stipulate that in terms of streamlining meetings and activities, the scale, duration, and funding of such events must be controlled while efficiency and quality are improved. Regarding the streamlining of documents and newsletters, the quantity must be reduced while quality and timeliness are increased. This reflects the Party's profound reflection on formalism and bureaucratism and its courage for self-revolution in the new journey.
The spirit of self-revolution is an adherence to the Party’s advanced nature and purity. In accordance with the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations and their Detailed Rules, various regions and departments have optimized the processes of meetings and activities by merging meetings and limiting speaking times. They have used digital tools to technically empower meeting formats, effectively curbing the unhealthy wind of "mountains of documents and seas of meetings" [2]. This effective streamlining of meetings, activities, documents, and newsletters reflects the Party's spirit of self-revolution in the practice of national governance.
The "Detailed Rules" also represent the practical logic of the Party’s dynamic self-revolution and self-improvement. Problems of conduct are stubborn and recursive; therefore, the Party’s conduct construction must be positioned as a long-term task that is "forever on the road" [3]. Continuously advancing conduct construction across the entire Party demonstrates the Party's determination to maintain its vitality through self-revolution during the process of Chinese-path modernization. Through the continuous rectification of the "Four Winds" — such as formalism and bureaucratism — the Party Central Committee has promoted the formation of a closed-loop mechanism of "discovering problems, improving systems, and consolidating results." The "Detailed Rules" require all regions and departments to formulate implementation measures that are more specific and operational based on their actual conditions.
Achieving the Precision-Oriented Development of the Party’s Conduct Construction
On the new journey, we face many challenges in the specific practice of improving the Party’s conduct construction. To strengthen conduct construction, we must establish a clear orientation that allows those who take responsibility and act to be both capable and courageous in their deeds. Only by maintaining a fighting posture of forging ahead, daring to lead, and facing difficulties head-on — and by actively taking responsibility and being courageous and adept at struggle — can we smoothly advance the historic cause of building a powerful country and achieving national rejuvenation. Carrying out in-depth education on the implementation of the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations throughout the Party is intended precisely to push the broad masses of Party members and cadres to dare to act under the premise of observing discipline, obeying rules, and maintaining integrity.
The "Detailed Rules" actively respond to the practical difficulties faced by grassroots workers. In the process of executing specific work, grassroots workers often encounter problems of inconsistent standards and difficulty in grasping the correct "yardstick." Some localities exhibit a simplistic "one-size-fits-all" [4] tendency when dealing with specific issues—either being too lax, which renders regulations a mere formality, or being too harsh, which affects the normal order of work. The confusion of grassroots workers not only affects the implementation effect of the Central Eight-Point Regulations but also, to a certain extent, restricts the in-depth advancement of the Party’s conduct construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the next step in establishing systems and regulations must focus on enhancing relevance and operability; what is formulated must be well-formulated, and once formulated, it must be resolutely implemented. The promulgation of the "Detailed Rules" is precisely an active response to these practical difficulties.
The "Detailed Rules" provide practical guidelines and execution standards for specific work. They clarify boundaries, define responsibilities, and calibrate discretion, marking out "red lines" that must not be crossed while also indicating "safe zones" for proactive entrepreneurship. They specify both the "no-go zones" of what cannot be done and the paths for "how to do" things. Regarding the improvement of investigation and research, the "Detailed Rules" clarify red lines for the number of accompanying personnel and forms of reception. Regarding the streamlining of meetings and activities, they specify the scale and duration. Regarding the streamlining of documents and newsletters, they standardize submission procedures and formats. Regarding the standardization of overseas visits, they clarify the upper limits for the number of countries visited and accompanying personnel. Regarding the improvement of news reports, they streamline and standardize the quantity, word count, and duration of various types of news coverage. The "Detailed Rules" not only resolve work confusion for grassroots workers but also provide a clear basis for superior departments to supervise discipline, effectively avoiding the "flood irrigation" [5] style of crude management and achieving precise policy implementation by the government and standardized social management.
The "Detailed Rules" promote the implementation of the Party Central Committee's various decisions and deployments. In response to the new characteristics and trends of Party conduct issues under new circumstances, we must achieve precision in research, formulation, execution, and accountability across grassroots investigations, the formulation of local measures, the implementation of details, and the whole-process supervision of discipline. This strategy of formulating fine-grained and precise administrative implementation measures based on the "Detailed Rules" is both problem-oriented and focused on chronic ailments such as formalism and bureaucratism. By reducing the burden on the grassroots through digital and intelligent quantification, we enhance service efficiency and the masses' sense of gain, thereby consolidating the Party’s foundation of governance. This is a consolidation and deepening of the previous achievements of the Party’s conduct construction and, more importantly, a key factor in ensuring that the Party Central Committee’s decisions are implemented effectively.
Advancing the Construction of Long-term Mechanisms for the Party’s Conduct Construction
The continuous implementation of the "Detailed Rules" indicates that conduct construction is a long-term and arduous task that allows no relaxation. We must persevere over the long term, constantly consolidating and expanding the achievements of the Party’s conduct construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the Central Eight-Point Regulations are not a regulation for five or ten years, but a long-term, effective "iron rule" and "hard yardstick." Issuing the Eight-Point Regulations was only the beginning and the first step in solving the problem; much work remains to be done. We must press on with the spirit of "leaving a footprint in the stone and a finger-mark in the iron" [6], seeing things through from start to finish and making sure they are done well. We must prevent a "tiger’s head but a snake’s tail" [7] (a strong start but a weak finish), allow the whole Party and all the people to supervise us, and let the masses continuously see tangible results and changes. While corruption has not yet been completely eradicated, we must resolutely abandon the idea of "expedient measures" or "temporary acts," resolutely overcome the emotions of "slacking off" or "fatigue," and resolutely prevent the erroneous expectation of "changing the wind direction" or "lowering the tone."
The "Detailed Rules" combine short-term rectification with long-term governance, filling loopholes through precise institutional construction to prevent the "Four Winds" from rebounding or resurfacing. The "Detailed Rules" require all regions and departments to strictly follow specific sub-items and formulate more specific and operational implementation measures in light of actual conditions. At the same time, by conducting annual special inspections and publishing implementation status reports, they urge all regions and departments to strictly implement the rules. This institutionalized and normalized path of practice advances the construction of long-term mechanisms for the Party’s conduct construction, consolidates the "flesh-and-blood ties" between the Party and the masses, and provides an important guarantee for the Party to stabilize its foundation of governance.
(The author is an Associate Professor at the School of Marxism, Dalian Maritime University.)
Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net - Chinese Social Sciences Today, August 19, 2025.
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