Wang Xipeng: Promoting the Full Implementation of Party Governance Responsibilities
Implementing the responsibility for governing the Party is a vital political responsibility for Party organizations at all levels, providing a strong guarantee for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit [1]. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "High-quality development requires high-quality Party building to lead the way." The more strictly and solidly the responsibility for governing the Party is grasped, the more stable the "ballast stone" of a correct outlook on merit becomes, the more stamina the "long run" of development possesses, and the better we can create achievements that truly benefit the people and are recognized by the masses.
Governing the Party provides political leadership and guarantees for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit
Implementing the responsibility for governing the Party and establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit are mutually reinforcing; they are both cause and effect for one another. In the process of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit, the responsibility for governing the Party serves as both the political lead and the political guarantee; conversely, a correct outlook on merit can drive the governance of the Party toward greater depth, forming a virtuous cycle.
Governing the Party provides the political guarantee for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. To govern the country, one must first govern the Party; only when the Party flourishes can the nation be strong. The Party's leadership is the "stabilizing anchor" [2] for the development of the Party and the country's cause. The more complex the situation and the more arduous the tasks, the more we must strengthen the Party's overall leadership through governing the Party. Just as a tree can hardly grow on shifting sands, a correct outlook on merit will not be established or practiced in an environment of "loose, soft, and lax" management; rather, it requires Party organizations to provide guidance and regulation through a strict responsibility system. The purpose of governing the Party is to create a positive and healthy political ecosystem by clarifying directions, establishing rules, rectifying conduct, and strengthening "immunity," thereby allowing Party members and officials to work with a free hand. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is like a giant ship sailing afar. Only by strictly governing the Party—making the Party organizations' "combat bastions" [3] stronger and tempering the conduct of the Party membership to be tougher—can we unite the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups into "a single piece of hard steel" under the Party's banner. This ensures we think with one mind and exert effort in one direction, pushing the giant ship of "China" to cleave through the waves and achieve steady and sustained progress. By governing the Party and resolutely clearing away negative factors that affect economic and social development, we can provide a political guarantee for a correct outlook on merit, ensuring that development does not deviate or lose its shape, and ensuring that the Party maintains its exuberant vitality and strong combat effectiveness, remaining the strong leadership core of Chinese-path modernization.
Governing the Party builds a firm ideological dam for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. Party spirit [4] plays the decisive role in establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. The outlook on merit reflects the fundamental understanding and attitude of Party members and officials toward fulfilling their duties and creating achievements; it is the concentrated expression of their worldview, outlook on life, and values in their administrative behavior. To establish and practice a correct outlook on merit, we must comprehensively implement the responsibility for governing the Party, starting from the ideological source of rectifying the outlook on merit. This drives Party members and officials to firm up their ideal and convictions, enhance their sense of Party spirit, forge absolute loyalty to the Party, cultivate deep feelings for the people, purify their moral character, and maintain integrity. In reality, some leading Party officials, in order to gain political capital and seek promotion, do not hesitate to squander human, material, and financial resources on "image projects" [5] and "vanity projects" [6]; some practice cronyism and prioritize personal gain, even following the philosophy of "those who comply flourish, those who resist perish"; others use power for personal gain, bending the law and taking bribes to benefit themselves and their small cliques. The root cause of these phenomena is a problem with Party spirit. To firm up ideals and convictions, one must first know them, then believe them, and finally act upon them. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The firmness of ideals and convictions comes from the firmness of thought and theory. Recognizing, mastering, believing in, and defending the truth is the spiritual prerequisite for firming up ideals and convictions." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism; it is the essence of Chinese culture and the Chinese spirit in our times, achieving a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. Establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit requires us to take ideological Party building and strengthening the Party through theory as a major political responsibility. we must unswervingly use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to coagulate the soul and forge the spirit, deeply studying and grasping General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the outlook on merit. In particular, we must transform the worldview, methodology, and the positions, viewpoints, and methods inherent in this important Thought into ideological weapons. This means internalizing them in the heart and externalizing them in action. With the spiritual state of "success does not have to be attributed to me, but I must contribute to its achievement" [7], we must focus single-mindedly on our duties, contributing strength to the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.
Governing the Party provides a guarantee of conduct for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. Conduct and the outlook on merit are two sides of the same coin. To establish and practice a correct outlook on merit, we must start by shunning superficiality and cultivating a pragmatic style of work. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must firmly establish an outlook on merit that benefits the people, take the lead in following the Party's mass line in the New Era, rectify the chronic ailments of the Four Winds—particularly formalism and bureaucratism—effectively reduce burdens on the grassroots, and promote the implementation of work through a transformation in conduct." In reality, some Party members and officials lack a sense of responsibility and fail to act when implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, becoming paralyzed and lax. Others, seeking short-term glory and rapid promotion, engage in "potted-plant projects" [8] or "flip the pancake" [9] (frequent, contradictory policy changes). Some are "easy to see, have a nice face, but make things hard to get done." Others stick to old routines without providing new ideas, avoiding conflicts and lacking courage; when facing issues, they either request instructions from above at every level or pass down responsibility statements to the levels below, but never actually grasp the implementation. These issues are problems of conduct as much as they are problems of the outlook on merit. Establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit requires us to take the strengthening of conduct as a vital link in governing the Party. We must educate and guide Party members and officials to continuously strengthen their conduct, promote the spirit of seeking truth from facts and doing solid work, resolutely clear away "chronic ailments" in conduct, speak the truth, observe the actual situation, report real numbers, devise practical measures, do practical deeds, and seek real results. We must persevere in implementing the Eight-Point Regulations, vigorously rectify formalism to reduce burdens on the grassroots, and resolutely rectify problems caused by a distorted outlook on merit—such as blind decision-making, being fond of greatness and seeking success [10], extravagance and waste, being flashy but without substance, and falsifying data. We must guide Party members and officials to handle one thing after another, working year after year, transforming the established action programs, strategic goals, and work blueprints into reality with their feet on the ground.
Governing the Party provides the yardstick for testing the establishment and practice of a correct outlook on merit. Achievements are made through action; only real work leads to real achievements. The implementation of the responsibility for governing the Party must ultimately be reflected in the actual results of benefiting the people and promoting high-quality development. Since the dawn of the New Era, our Party has adhered to a people-centered development philosophy, guiding Party members and officials to fully implement their responsibility for governing the Party and establishing a firm outlook on merit that benefits the people. This means "doing things" rather than "putting on a show," "benefiting people" rather than "creating momentum." We must unswervingly improve people's well-being and do good, practical deeds that reach the hearts of the masses. High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects. Adhering to high-quality development is a vital component of a correct outlook on merit for Party members and officials, and it is also an important standard for testing the implementation of the responsibility for governing the Party. This requires officials to work hard on the complete, accurate, and comprehensive implementation of the new development philosophy, developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions. Establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit requires a commitment to high-quality development, rather than chasing size and foreign styles [11], acting blindly, or playing to the gallery. It requires practical measures and real results, rather than flashy but unsubstantial efforts, opportunism, or data falsification. It requires building a foundation for the long term, rather than seeking quick success and instant benefits [12], "draining the pond to catch the fish" [13], or wasting manpower and money. Only by constantly strengthening their sense of responsibility and consciously accepting the "weights and measures" test of governing the Party—pursuing development that is solid, without "water" [14], and that unifies speed, quality, and efficiency—can Party members and officials create achievements that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.
Governing the Party provides the institutional guarantee for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. One’s outlook on power directly affects one’s outlook on merit. Governing the Party regulates the exercise of power through institutional constraints, minimizing the space for a distorted outlook on merit to exist. Our Party prevents the capricious use of power by strictly enforcing democratic centralism and the "Triple-One" [15] decision-making system. We guide officials toward a correct outlook on merit by improving Party discipline and regulations. The 2023 revision of the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action added Article 57, which includes disciplinary provisions for leading Party officials whose outlook on merit is distorted, who violate the new development philosophy, or who deviate from the requirements of high-quality development. It moved the act of engaging in "image projects" and "vanity projects" that waste resources from a violation of "mass discipline" to a violation of "political discipline." By clarifying disciplinary requirements, we push leading officials to establish a correct outlook on merit and implement the requirements of high-quality development. The Regulations on the Selection and Appointment of Leading Party and Government Officials explicitly state: "Prevent the evaluation of work performance based solely on the speed of economic growth." A distorted outlook on merit and bad conduct are often intertwined. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party has strictly implemented the Eight-Point Regulations and their detailed implementation rules, severely punished those involved in "image" and "vanity" projects, and continuously rectified formalism and bureaucratism. This has stripped the market from those who "only obey superiors but not reality" or "seek excitement but not actual results," leaving officials who love "mountains of documents and seas of meetings" [16] or "excessive trace-leaving" [17] with nowhere to hide. To establish and practice a correct outlook on merit, we must insist on institutionalizing the governance of power and using power according to regulations. We must improve systems and set clear rules—clarifying what can be done, what cannot be done, and how it should be done—and improve institutional mechanisms that unify the delegation, use, and control of power in a clear, transparent, and traceable manner, focusing on narrowing the space for the capriciousness of power.
Practice has fully proved that places where Party building is solid and the governance of the Party is strict are often places where the relationship between officials and the masses is harmonious and the momentum for development is sufficient. The actual results of promoting development through Party building are powerful evidence of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit. It can be said that Party building is the lead, and development is the goal; Party building is the guarantee, and development is the result. If the governance of the Party is "loose, soft, and lax," the organization fragmented, and discipline slack, the fruits of development will not only fail to benefit the masses but may even deviate from the correct track due to the abuse of power.
Strengthening the "Hard Constraints" of Governing the Party on Establishing and Practicing a Correct Outlook on Merit
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In economic and social development we must establish a correct outlook on merit; in Party building, we must also establish a correct outlook on merit and take pragmatism as the foundation." Since the 18th National Congress, our Party has adhered to a strict keynote, strict measures, and a strict atmosphere. We have grasped Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline together, integrating the rectification of conduct, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption. We have promoted the implementation of the responsibility for governing the Party with "the marks of an iron grip and the prints of a stone-stepping stride" [18], solving problems one by one, continuously exerting force and advancing steadily. This has effectively promoted the development of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party toward greater depth. This is a vivid manifestation of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on merit within the governance of the Party itself. To establish and practice a correct outlook on merit, we must treat the implementation of the responsibility for governing the Party as an "iron rule" etched into the bones and blood of Party members and officials, persisting over the long term without the slightest negligence.
The responsibility for governing the Party is heavy and great; no Party organization or official can remain on the sidelines. A single silk thread does not make a thread; a single tree does not make a forest. Governing the Party is a systemic project that cannot be completed by the Central Committee or a few leading officials alone; it requires every Party organization to shoulder the burden, take the steps, and set an example. In reality, some officials express much support for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party but take little initiative to grasp it; they are well aware of problems but "play deaf and dumb." Some members of leadership teams or functional departments believe that the "Two Responsibilities" [19] are solely the business of the Party Secretary and the Commission for Discipline Inspection Secretary, and that it has nothing to do with them. These tendencies are all wrong. Party organizations at all levels must firmly establish the concept that "grasping Party building is one's duty, not grasping it is a dereliction of duty, and grasping it poorly is incompetence." We must promote the implementation of Party building responsibilities level by level, grasping the work until it is solid, detailed, and in place. The more than 5 million primary-level Party organizations are like 5 million "foundation piles"; only when every pile is driven into the ground and every root is solid can the Party's building of governance withstand any storm and "sit firmly on the fishing terrace" [20].
At present, some Party members and officials still have deviations in implementing their responsibility for governing the Party. Some do not value it ideologically and are inactive, believing that Party building is "softer" than development and does not easily produce "notable achievements" [21]. They think holding a few meetings a year to arrange tasks is enough and there is no need to be so attentive. Others distinguish too sharply between Party affairs and administrative affairs, or between professional work and Party work...
Once the "positioning" is misplaced, responsibilities that ought to be fulfilled are abandoned. Some prioritize form over content, process over results, and quantity over quality; while things may appear bustling on the surface, the actual effect is poor, and work even becomes "two separate skins" [22]—disconnected from central tasks and yielding no results. Others lack a systems perspective, "treating the head when the head aches and the feet when the feet ache" [23], causing contradictions and problems to accumulate. In a few locales, work revolves around a few specific spots for long periods, even "pulling up seedlings to help them grow" [24] to cultivate "model examples," using "special treatment" to force their growth. Consequently, rather than leading the whole area by example, this only fuels a culture of superficiality. These problems arise from various causes, but fundamentally, they stem from a flawed outlook on performance. A Party member or official who truly possesses a correct outlook on performance must be responsible for the cause of the Party and the state, and must be willing to "get serious and confront toughness" [25] in governing the Party, rather than merely "cherishing their own feathers" [26]. Conversely, if a member or official cuts corners or seeks workarounds in governing the Party, turns a blind eye to unhealthy tendencies, or is afraid or unwilling to struggle against violations of discipline and law, then no matter how loudly they shout about a correct outlook on performance, that outlook is essentially flawed.
The process of implementing the responsibility for governing the Party is also the process by which a correct outlook on performance transforms from a "soft constraint" into a "hard benchmark." The outlook on performance itself is a "soft constraint"; the responsibility for governing the Party provides "teeth" for this constraint, turning "internal monologues" into "real-world blueprints." Through quantified evaluation indicators, Party organizations at all levels ensure that emphasizing Party building and actual results moves from a conceptual requirement to a checkable, quantifiable, and concrete action. Through accountability and inquiries, responsibility is pursued for those engaging in "image projects" or "vanity projects" [27]. Through evaluation and a clear orientation in personnel selection, performance is directly linked to the promotion, demotion, appointment, or removal of officials. Once this "combination of punches" [28] is delivered, a correct outlook on performance is no longer a flexible exhortation that is "important in word but secondary in deed," but a rigid constraint that officials must follow and practice.
To implement responsibility well, one must "grasp the ox by the nose" [29]—the responsibility system. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "To govern the Party with rigor, we must enhance the awareness of governing the Party and implement the responsibility for governing the Party"; "Without clear responsibilities, without implementing responsibilities, and without pursuing accountability, strict governance of the Party cannot be achieved." Without a clear system of responsibility, a correct outlook on performance is a "castle in the air"; without a full chain of responsibility, even the best system will become a mere formality, and deviations in the outlook on performance will easily occur. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress proposed major strategic measures to improve the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. In January 2023, at the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "persist in full coverage of content, full coverage of subjects, a full chain of responsibility, and full integration of systems to further improve the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party," in which the "full chain of responsibility" is a vital component. In June 2024, while presiding over the 15th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must improve the responsibility system with clear subjects and clear requirements. A responsibility system must be established and improved by layers and categories, pushing Party organizations at all levels and the broad ranks of Party members and officials to know, shoulder, and fulfill their responsibilities."
Adhering to a "full chain of responsibility" is consistent with the goal of "improving a responsibility system with clear subjects and clear requirements." At the same time, the two have different emphases in implementing the responsibility system for governing the Party. The "full chain of responsibility" emphasizes "vertical integration," solving problems where responsibility is "interrupted, disconnected, or poorly transmitted," highlighting the continuity of the responsibility's operation. A "responsibility system with clear subjects and clear requirements" emphasizes "horizontal boundaries," solving problems where responsibility is "vague, overlapping, or unclaimed," highlighting the precision of the responsibility's content. The two coordinate with and promote each other, forming an organic whole that points the way forward for further improving the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.
To consolidate the responsibility for governing the Party, we must establish a responsibility system that reaches the bottom vertically and the edges horizontally. Vertically, Party organizations at all levels must tighten and consolidate responsibility, performing their respective duties and cooperating fully to create a favorable situation where each level manages the one below and implementation is carried out layer by layer. Horizontally, Party committees (Party leadership groups) at all levels must fulfill their primary responsibility; the Party committee secretary, as the "top leader" [30], must fulfill the responsibility as the person with first-order responsibility; other members of the leadership team must earnestly shoulder "dual responsibilities for one post" [31]; disciplinary inspection commissions at all levels must fulfill their supervisory responsibility; and every Party member and official must fulfill their own due responsibilities. This drives the formation of a responsibility system where Party organizations at all levels and various subjects strictly shoulder their responsibilities, manage together, and link every part of the chain.
The primary responsibility holds a key position in the responsibility for governing the Party. Whether the responsibility for governing the Party can be shouldered depends critically on how the primary responsibility is implemented. Entering the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping, proceeding from the overall strategic situation of governing the Party and the state, emphasized "primary responsibility." This is a major innovation in the thought, theory, institutions, and practice of governing the Party. It clarifies the status of the Party committee as the leader, executor, and promoter in comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, fundamentally solving the question of "who is responsible and how they are responsible." It has effectively reversed the problem of responsibilities becoming hollow or diminishing as they are passed down, forming a rigorous chain of responsibility where "each level manages the one below and implementation is carried out layer by layer."
The state of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in a locale or department depends critically on whether Party organizations and leading officials, especially the "top leaders," have fulfilled their responsibilities. In reality, some leading officials voice much support for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party but take little initiative to grasp it; they adopt an attitude of "knowing something is wrong but saying as little as possible" toward prominent problems, acting as "silent gentlemen." This tendency must be resolutely corrected. Party committees (Party leadership groups) must earnestly treat comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as their own business and due responsibility. They must truly shoulder the burden and "cultivate their own fields of responsibility" [32] by strengthening leadership over Party governance, selecting and utilizing officials well, reinforcing supervision and restraint over the exercise of power, deeply carrying out the party conduct and integrity construction and the anti-corruption struggle, and safeguarding the interests of the masses. The Party committee must take the initiative to grasp and manage; it cannot replace its own primary responsibility with the supervisory responsibility of the disciplinary inspection commission, let alone abandon its responsibility and simply push it away. As the person with first-order responsibility, the secretary of the Party committee (Party leadership group) must firmly establish the concept that "grasping Party building is one’s duty, failing to grasp it is a dereliction of duty, and failing to grasp it well is incompetence." Centered on managing the leadership team, leading the ranks, and promoting implementation, they must both "command the army" and "take the field," ensuring they personally deploy important work, personally inquire about major issues, personally coordinate key links, and personally oversee the handling of major cases.
Implementing the responsibility for governing the Party is a "grand chorus" of collective responsibility for Party organizations. The Party committee must act as the "lead singer," setting the direction and managing the overall situation. The secretary must act as the "backbone," taking the lead in cultivating their "field of responsibility in Party building." Disciplinary inspection commissions must fulfill their specialized supervisory duties, focusing on their primary functions and core business—such as efficient supervision, strict discipline enforcement, and precise accountability. They must neither exercise the powers of the Party committee or government nor replace functional departments in administration. Other members of the leadership team must fulfill their responsibilities for governing the Party in accordance with the "dual responsibilities for one post" requirements based on their division of duties, and must never adopt the attitude that "it’s none of my business." Party members and officials should fulfill their specific responsibilities by exercising self-discipline and engaging in mutual supervision, reminders, and assistance, based on the characteristics of their positions and the reality of their work. All responsible subjects must know, shoulder, and fulfill their responsibilities. They must not be "Mr. Nice Guys" [33] who, for the sake of their personal image, allow the Party's image and the people's interests to be damaged. We must improve precise and scientific accountability mechanisms, transmit pressure layer by layer, and ensure the responsibility for governing the Party is implemented in full by making sure responsible subjects are in place, responsibility requirements are met, and evaluation and accountability are enforced.
The combination of strict management and "kindness and concern" [34] is a profound summary of the patterns of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. The purpose of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is not to manage people to death, making them hesitant and fearful, or turning the environment into a stagnant pool of listlessness and inaction. Rather, it is to create a political ecosystem and a favorable environment that is positive, healthy, and conducive to entrepreneurship and action. Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is like meticulous garden maintenance. The goal is to create a political ecosystem with sufficient sunlight, smooth ventilation, and fertile soil by clarifying the correct direction of growth, setting up the framework of rules for support, straightening trees tilted by wind and rain, and strengthening the immune system against pests and diseases. This allows every "tree" to grow upward freely within the framework of rules, with deep roots and lush leaves, eventually forming a vibrant environment where "all trees flourish together" for entrepreneurship and action. Party organizations at all levels must profoundly grasp the relationship between strict management and supervision and encouraging responsibility and action, better stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broad ranks of Party members and officials. This will create a vigorous atmosphere and a lively situation for advancing on the new journey and making contributions in the New Era—which is also an inherent requirement for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance.
Ensuring Scientific Decision-Making and Practical Action through the Implementation of Democratic Centralism
Democratic centralism is the fundamental organizational principle and leadership system of our Party, providing a vital institutional guarantee for governing the Party. Democratic centralism includes two aspects—democracy and centralism—which are mutually conditional and complementary. Adhering to democratic centralism is an important part of the Marxist theory of Party building and a key hallmark of a Marxist party. This system ensures that our Party can transform scattered opinions and suggestions into systematic and scientific lines, principles, and policies. It is the magic weapon for our Party to always maintain unity and unification, make scientific decisions, and gather the strength to move forward. Just as constructing a magnificent building requires every craftsman to contribute exquisite skills and unique insights, it also requires a chief designer to coordinate the overall situation and "settle the pieces on the board" [35] based on the collective wisdom.
Scientific decision-making is an important part of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance. To achieve scientific decision-making, we must fully develop intra-Party democracy and concentrate the wisdom of the whole Party. Among these, "developing intra-Party democracy" is the foundation of scientific decision-making. Only by fully developing intra-Party democracy, smoothing the channels for expressing opinions within the Party, and respecting and protecting the democratic rights of Party members can we maximize the creative vitality of the whole Party. "Concentrating the wisdom of the whole Party" is the fertile soil for scientific decision-making. As the world's largest political party, our Party's members and primary-level organizations are widely distributed, possessing the advantage of extensive "information antennae." We can sensitively perceive subtle changes in economic and social development and the actual demands of the masses, systematically analyze and comprehensively judge complex problems from different perspectives, and synthesize scientific decision-making suggestions.
"Developing intra-Party democracy and concentrating the wisdom of the whole Party" is interconnected with establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance. Specifically, the former is the "source of living water" [36] for the latter; without extensive democracy, the outlook on performance will fall into the quagmire of subjectivism. Conversely, establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance is a "vivid manifestation" of developing intra-Party democracy and concentrating the wisdom of the whole Party; only with such an outlook will democracy avoid becoming "empty talk." In reality, some Party members and officials have a displaced outlook on performance and violate the principle of democratic centralism, leading to serious consequences. For instance, some ignore scientific laws when making plans or pursuing development, disregarding realistic conditions and historical stages. They fail to analyze resource endowments and environmental carrying capacity, ignore input costs and output returns, and blindly pursue "grand strokes" or "extraordinary measures," even attempting so-called "leapfrog development" detached from local realities, resulting in serious errors and waste. Some treat collective study as a mere formality and expert demonstrations as window dressing, deciding on projects based on personal preference and launching engineering works on subjective whims, perverting the idea of being "daring in decision-making" into "reckless decision-making." Some, to build "personal authority" or show "boldness and vision," act willfully on major matters and force through projects, leading to serious consequences such as abandoned projects, accumulated debt, and ecological destruction. Others act audaciously and without scruples in decision-making, causing serious losses; behind these actions, corruption is often involved, aimed at rent-seeking or seeking personal gain. The root of these problems lies in a distorted view of power and a lack of awareness of rules, placing personal will above organizational principles and professional rationality, and treating public resources as an "experimental field" for personal conceptions. This not only causes development to stagnate and finances to be wasted but also overdraws the trust of the masses and damages the foundation of the cause.
The Party Constitution stipulates:
“The committees of the Party at all levels shall implement a system that combines collective leadership with individual responsibility based on the division of labor.” The Regulations on the Work of Communist Party of China Agencies [37] also explicitly require that “Party work agencies must adhere to democratic centralism, and leadership teams shall implement a system combining collective leadership with individual responsibility based on the division of labor.” This system is the concrete manifestation of democratic centralism within the leadership work of the Party. Within it, collective leadership and individual responsibility are closely linked and intrinsically unified; they are inseparable, and neither can be neglected at the expense of the other. The strength of the Party comes both from the wisdom of the collective and the sense of responsibility of the individual. For a leadership team to implement this system is like a ship sailing steadily toward a distant port: it requires both the “rudder” of the captain's unified command and the “oars” pulled vigorously by every sailor. The two are interdependent and neither can be dispensed with. In this system, collective leadership acts as the “ballast stone” [38], ensuring the direction does not deviate. Decisions on major issues, appointments and removals of important officials, arrangements for major projects, and the use of large sums of money must never be determined by an individual “slapping the forehead” [39] to make a snap judgment. One must follow the principles of “collective leadership, democratic centralism, individual consultation, and meeting-based decision-making,” allowing everyone to put their opinions on the table for straightforward debate, “breaking down and mincing” [40] the issues for research and discussion. The process of collective decision-making is a convergence of wisdom where “many hands make light work,” but even more so, it constitutes iron-clad rules and hard constraints to resolutely prevent the “one-voice hall” [41].
Individual responsibility based on the division of labor represents the “responsibility field,” ensuring effective execution. Once the leadership team has set the tone through collective decision-making, the remaining task is to divide the work and grasp implementation. Every member of the team must have a clearly defined “responsibility field” to ensure that every matter is managed by someone and every person has a specialty. Team members must act like they are “driving a nail,” striking hammer after hammer to drive home their assigned tasks; they must act like they are “turning a screw,” rotation by rotation, tightening the work for which they are responsible. They must neither “wait, lean, and ask” [42] while acting as a “hands-off manager,” nor should they act independently to “sing a rival tune” [43] against one another.
In practice, we must resolutely prevent two tendencies. One is individual autocracy, treating collective leadership as a “rubber stamp” and adopting the attitude of “my domain, my say.” The other is weakness and laxity, treating the division of labor as “splitting the family for separate living,” passing the buck when problems arise, and causing a situation where “too many dragons result in no rain.” [44] We must clearly recognize that collective leadership is not a “mass hullabaloo” where one “grabs the eyebrows and the beard all at once” [45], nor is a division of labor a case of “railway police each managing their own section.” Team members should be like ten fingers playing the piano, each fulfilling their responsibility while coordinating with one another, achieving a state where labor is divided but the “house” is not split, where actions lead to success rather than failure, and where members “support the stage” [46] rather than undermining it. Only by integrating the “brain” of the collective with the “hands and feet” of the individual—relying on collective wisdom to “hold the rudder” and individual responsibility to “pull the oars”—can the cause of the Party and the state brave the wind and waves and sail steadily toward the horizon.
Establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance [47] requires Party members and officials to hold higher standards, stricter requirements, and better performance in implementing democratic centralism. Scientific decision-making is never produced out of thin air by an individual “slapping the forehead”; rather, it is formed through the combination of centralism based on democracy and democracy under centralized guidance. When participating in the study of major decisions, Party members and officials must think deeply and express their opinions fully out of a commitment to the public good. Regarding the actual situation understood through their work, they must report it in a timely, objective, and comprehensive manner, neither reporting only the good news nor concealing the bad. Within their areas of charge and the localities they govern, they must strictly implement the rules of procedure and decision-making for leadership teams, improve and implement the supervision mechanism for “Three Greats and One Large” [48] decisions, and encourage everyone to speak their minds freely. They must resolutely refrain from individual autocracy or a “one-voice hall,” and avoid individual instructions or private deals. They must effectively identify and resolutely reject those “image projects” and “vanity projects” that seek quick success and instant benefits but are flashy and without substance. They must be adept at correct centralization, extracting the correct opinions that conform to the laws of objective development and the fundamental interests of the broad masses of the people, preventing “discussion without decision,” and ensuring the formation of scientific decisions that lay a foundation, benefit the long term, and improve the people's livelihoods. Once the Party organization has made a major decision, Party members and officials must obey the organizational decision and the division of labor. They must perform their duties within the scope of their responsibilities in accordance with the spirit of the CPC Central Committee and collective decisions. They must not unilaterally change a collective decision during implementation, nor impose their individual opinions on the collective, the organization, or others. They must not irregularly interfere in or intervene in work matters that are not under their charge or from which they should recuse themselves, ensuring that organizational decisions are carried out to the end with sought-after results. They must earnestly strengthen their sense of responsibility, dare to take charge and take action. Matters that have been decided, especially those decided by the CPC Central Committee, must be grasped firmly, advanced step by step, and implemented bit by bit until results are achieved, ensuring that they both bring glory to their specific region and add luster to the overall situation.
In short, only by integrating democratic centralism throughout the entire process of creating performance—relying on collective wisdom to “distinguish truth from falsehood” during decision-making, on the division of labor to “grasp implementation” during execution, and on institutional constraints to “correct deviations” during supervision—can we fundamentally eradicate the soil in which a distorted outlook on performance grows. Only then can we do more to lay foundations and benefit the long term, seek truth from facts, engage in solid work, have the courage to take responsibility, and truly be responsible to history and the people.
(The author is a researcher at the China Institute of Discipline Inspection and Supervision) Source: People's Daily (May 29, 2026) Editor: Huihui