Liu Zhiming: Focus More on Reform Effectiveness and Implement Reforms with a Spirit of Perseverance
The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, within the guiding ideology for further comprehensively deepening reform, proposed "placing greater emphasis on the actual results of reform." We must profoundly grasp the philosophical logic and methodological requirements behind placing greater emphasis on the actual results of reform, and utilize the spirit of driving the nail [1] to ensure the implementation of reform, striving to be promoters and men of action in the reform process.
Marxism holds that the relations of production must suit the state of the productive forces, and the superstructure must suit the state of the economic base; their combined interaction constitutes the contradictory movement of society as a whole. This basic principle is the theoretical basis for our continuous advancement of reform. It also contains the essential meaning, target tasks, and requirements for effectiveness: reform must adapt to the changes in the movement of the basic contradictions of our society to promote social development. The targets and tasks of reform are concrete and historical. On the new journey of comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization, our further comprehensive deepening of reform is intended to promote a better correspondence between the relations of production and the productive forces, between the superstructure and the economic base, and between national governance and social development, providing a powerful impetus and institutional guarantee for Chinese-path modernization. Through further comprehensively deepening reform, we must continuously liberate and develop the social productive forces, stimulate and enhance social vitality, and thereby promote the continuous improvement and development of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, as well as the continuous elevation of the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity. Through further comprehensively deepening reform, we must vigorously promote economic and social development, vigorously promote social fairness and justice, and bring a tangible sense of gain [2] to the masses.
The top-level design of reform clarifies tasks and points the way for reform practice, but it can only drive economic and social development if it is implemented on the ground. Marxist philosophy holds that the most important issue is not understanding the laws of the objective world and thus being able to explain it, but rather using this understanding of objective laws to actively transform the world. Marx emphasized that "every step of real movement is more important than a dozen programs." Comrade Mao Zedong believed that "if we have a correct theory but merely prattle about it, shelf it, and do not put it into practice, then that theory, however good, is of no significance." Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized, "Everything in the world is done through action; without action, there is not a shred of Marxism." Since the 18th Party Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of valuing practical work and focusing on implementation, noting that "if we do not settle down to focus on implementation, no matter how good the goal or the blueprint, it will only be a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water [3]," and requiring that we "grasp the implementation of reform with the spirit of driving the nail."
The actual results of reform do not fall from the sky but are achieved through scientific and effective reform practices. The current and upcoming period is a critical stage for comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization. To solve the contradictions and problems in various fields, levels, and links more purposefully according to the established timetable and roadmap, we must invest more energy and produce more pragmatic measures in implementation. There is both destruction and construction in reform; if the method is correct, one will achieve twice the result with half the effort [4]. To achieve actual results in reform, we must master scientific methods and clarify effective paths, thereby promoting the successive landing and gradual flowering of various reform measures to achieve solid results.
We must persist in combining the strengthening of the Party’s leadership with respect for the people’s pioneering spirit. The Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization. The people are the creators of history and the practical subjects who drive reform. Only by relying on the people for reform can reform have momentum. Practice has proven that every breakthrough in reform practice has come from the practice and wisdom of the masses. As reform advances into deep water, the long-term, complex, and arduous nature of reform becomes further highlighted. The heavier the reform tasks, the more we must strengthen and improve the Party's leadership, the more we must maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses, respect the people’s pioneering spirit, listen extensively to the opinions and suggestions of the masses, timely summarize the fresh experiences created by the masses, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the masses in promoting reform. We must pool the wisdom and strength of the broadest range of people into reform and push reform forward together with the people.
We must persist in combining a problem-oriented approach with a goal-oriented approach. Problems are the manifestations of contradictions in things and the breakthrough points for opening up new work prospects. Reform is forced by problems and deepens through their continuous resolution. The goal is the objective to be reached. Only by carrying out work closely around established goals can we move forward along the correct direction. To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must anchor the general goal of continuing to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity, clarifying the tasks that must be completed by the designated milestones. Simultaneously, we must integrate with reality, starting from problems that urgently need resolution, focusing on addressing "bottleneck" problems (堵点) restricting high-quality development, "hotspot" problems affecting social fairness and justice, "difficult" problems regarding people's livelihoods, prominent problems in Party building, and risk problems in various fields. This ensures that reform more accurately interfaces with the needs of development, the expectations of the grassroots, and the aspirations of the people, better benefiting the masses.
We must persist in combining overall advancement with breakthroughs in key areas. Further comprehensively deepening reform involves the overall work of the Party and the state and covers all fields of economic and social development. It is a complex systematic project; piecemeal adjustments and fragmented repairs will not suffice. We must emphasize systematicity, integrity, and synergy. At the same time, overall advancement does not mean applying force equally or moving forward simultaneously on all fronts; we must also focus on grasping the principal contradiction and the principal aspect of the contradiction, using breakthroughs in key areas to drive the overall situation and ensure that various reforms exert their maximum efficacy. Therefore, we must continue to exert effort on "comprehensiveness" to ensure reform measures fully cover the prominent problems that need to be solved to advance Chinese-path modernization. We must also continue to apply strength on "deepening," highlighting the economic system as the priority, leveraging the leading role of economic structural reform, and focusing on breaking down deep-seated institutional barriers and structural contradictions.
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee sounded the clarion call of the times to open up broad prospects for Chinese-path modernization through further comprehensively deepening reform. To ensure the implementation of reform and enhance its actual results, we need to strengthen a personnel orientation that encourages taking responsibility and overcoming difficulties, motivating cadres to take up heavy burdens and strive to be promoters and men of action in reform. What are promoters and men of action in reform? Those who uphold and support reform and dare to take responsibility are promoters; those who take reform in their hands, implement it on the ground, and produce results are men of action. To be a promoter and man of action in reform, one must view problems from the overall perspective of the development of the Party and state undertakings, grasp the pulse of reform amidst complex phenomena, and understand the internal laws of further comprehensively deepening reform. We must persist in seeking truth from facts and being "dare-to-doers" [5] in implementation. We must take the "spirit of driving the nail" as an important ideological and working method—striking hammer after hammer and working generation after generation—to ensure that the direction of reform determined by the Party Central Committee does not deviate, that the reform tasks clarified by the Party Central Committee do not fall through, and that reform progresses and succeeds.
(The author is a Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)