Du Dong: Gain a Deep Understanding of General Secretary Xi Jinping's Strategic Thought on Quality Coordination
[Abstract] The strategic thought on coordination is one of the important ideological sources of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This article first provides a brief review of the concept of coordination and the study of "coordination science" (tǒngchóuxué) in order to understand the basic essentials and grasp the ideological essence of coordination. Secondly, it reviews the important expositions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on coordination since the 18th Party Congress [1] to explore his strategic thought on the subject. Thirdly, it demonstrates the practical brilliance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic thought on coordination from four levels: urban work, the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, the construction of ecological civilization, and the coordination of development and security.
[Keywords] Thought on coordination; coordination science; urban work; coordinated urban-rural development; ecological civilization construction; coordinating development and security
Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era contains rich thinking methods, and coordination is one of them. First, coordination is a scientific way of thinking. It emphasizes following the principles of systematicity and integrity, treating various elements as an indivisible and organically connected whole, and focusing on grasping the mutual relationships and interactions between various parties. Furthermore, it proceeds from the overall situation to make unified deployment and arrangements according to local characteristics and functions, maximizing overall effects and holistic functions. Secondly, coordination is an effective working method. It emphasizes correctly handling the dialectical relationship between principal and secondary contradictions, and between the principal and secondary aspects of a contradiction [2]. It focuses on key areas and crucial links of the overall situation while integrating resources, coordinating forces, and handling tasks across different levels and stages. For example, it is necessary to both create top-level designs for comprehensively deepening reform and highlight the reform of important fields and key links.
It is noteworthy that the Party Central Committee has always been adept at applying the thought of coordination to resolve contradictions and problems in economic and social development. It can be said that coordination is both a scientific method for governing the country and an important historical experience in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
In February 2014, during an exclusive interview with Russia Television, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that Chinese leaders, on the basis of clarifying the situation, must perform comprehensive coordination and integrated balancing (tǒngchóu-jiāngù, zōnghé-pínghéng), highlighting key points to drive the overall situation. Sometimes it is necessary to "grasp the large and let go of the small" (zhuā-dà-fàng-xiǎo) or "use the large to encompass the small," while at other times it is necessary to "use the small to lead the large" or "see the large through the small." Figuratively speaking, this is "playing the piano with all ten fingers" [3]. In the practice of governance, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes both a holistic perspective and a focus on prioritizing the resolution of principal contradictions and the principal aspects of contradictions, using breakthroughs in important fields and key links to drive the overall situation. Deeply studying and thoroughly researching General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic thought on coordination possesses extremely important theoretical value and practical significance.
I. A Brief Review of the Concept of Coordination and Coordination Science Research
The term "coordination" (tǒngchóu) is defined in the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary as unified planning or comprehensive planning. From a management perspective, the basic meaning of coordination refers to the unified planning, organization, and utilization of various activities and resources within a certain matter or field under the principle of holistic consideration and overall coordination, so as to achieve the goals of rationality, efficiency, and harmony. Today, the thought of coordination means overseeing the whole situation, planning scientifically, taking all parties into account, and being adept at grasping key points and crucial links. From the perspective of cultural origins, coordination embodies the thinking patterns of the "excellent traditional Chinese culture" gene, with ideological roots dating back thousands of years. A representative example is the ancient Chinese theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements [4]. This theory reflects a form of near-naive naive materialist dialectics; it focuses on the harmony and unity between the whole of a thing and its constituent parts. It requires people, in the process of understanding and transforming the world, to proceed from a holistic perspective, oversee the overall situation, plan comprehensively, and take all aspects into account to achieve coordinated development. This is the essence of excellent traditional Chinese culture. In China, managers or those with practical experience generally have a similar understanding of the concept of coordination, applying this comprehensive thinking to practical work as a matter of "daily use without conscious awareness" [5]. In short, the thought of coordination has been widely applied across all fields of social life and in the decision-making of leaders at all levels.
Based on the thought of coordination, the discipline of "coordination science" (tǒngchóuxué) was gradually proposed and researched. Contemporary Chinese coordination science was summarized and proposed by Professor Hua Luogeng [6]. Professor Hua fully integrated scientific coordination thought with advanced network technology (a holistic plan optimization technique that uses the mastery of time and space as the core of planning to fully reflect the connections between relevant parties) and called it the "Method of Coordination." Later, Professor Hua proposed the vision of "Large-scale coordination, managing data, building systems, and strategizing development," turning it into a discipline—coordination science. Chen Dequan and others believe that coordination science is the study of theories, models, methods, and means to implement coordinated management throughout the process of achieving holistic goals [1]. An Introduction to Coordination Science is the result of Professor Liu Tianlu’s twenty years of dedicated research; published in 1995, it was the first systematic work on the theory of coordination science. The author believes that the supremacy of utility, highlighting key points, and taking all parties into account are the fundamental requirements of coordination science. He summarized four criteria for coordination: 1) The criterion of unifying the subject, object, and environment; 2) The criterion of unifying people, time, and space; 3) The criterion of unifying compatibility with career orientation; 4) The criterion of unifying success, optimization, and a virtuous cycle [2]. Overall, coordination science, as a comprehensive management philosophy, considers and handles problems through a "career-utility" system.
Although coordination science is not yet mature and faces a massive diversion of academic labor toward theoretical methods founded by foreign scholars, coordination is, after all, an excellent tradition of the Chinese nation and an urgent contemporary need. Moreover, the banner of coordination is one that Chinese Communists have always held high. Therefore, we should further study and research it, especially to understand its basic essentials, grasp its ideological essence, and be adept at applying it to specific fields of work.
II. Exploration of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Coordination
Since the 18th Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinately advanced the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" and coordinately promoted the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout, driving the cause of the Party and the state to achieve historical achievements and undergo historical transformations [3].
On January 23, 2015, during the 20th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping emphasized that faced with complex situations and arduous tasks, one must first have a holistic view and "have a clear count in one's heart" (xīnzhōng yǒu shù) regarding various contradictions. At the same time, one must prioritize the resolution of principal contradictions and the principal aspects of contradictions to drive the resolution of others. We must focus on both overall planning and on "pulling the ox by the nose" (qiān niú-bízi) [7]. In any work, we must apply both the "two-point theory" and the "priority theory" [8]. Without distinguishing primary and secondary, or "grabbing the eyebrows and the beard all at once" (méimáo húzi yībiǎ zhuā), work cannot be done well. The strategic thought on coordination contained in this speech provides important guiding significance for improving our ability to reform and develop.
The report to the 19th Party Congress mentioned the concept of "coordination" 20 times. For instance, it clarified the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics as the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan," requiring the coordinated advancement of economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction. It also required the coordinated promotion of the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout, considering as a whole the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the comprehensive deepening of reform, the comprehensive rule of law, and the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, so that they move in the same direction and promote each other. Furthermore, it required that in the concrete implementation of each "comprehensive," the internal links, elements, and parts should cooperate, promote each other, and interact positively to advance as a whole and form a synergy.
In the report to the 20th Party Congress, the word "coordination" also appeared many times. Advancing Chinese-path modernization requires properly handling several major relationships. Performing economic work requires mastering the "six coordinations" (liù gè tǒngchóu): better coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development; better coordinating the effective improvement of economic quality with reasonable growth in quantity; better coordinating supply-side structural reform with expanding domestic demand; better coordinating economic policies with other policies; better coordinating domestic circulation and international circulation (dual circulation); and better coordinating current and long-term interests. At the Central Economic Work Conference held from December 15 to 16, 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized mastering these "six coordinations" for the following year's economic work.
The core connotations of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic thought on coordination can be summarized as follows:
Coordination first implies a sense of responsibility and mission. Comrade Xi Jinping said in an interview with foreign media: "My philosophy of governance, summarized, is: to serve the people and take up the responsibilities I should shoulder."
Coordination implies top-level design. Governing the country inevitably involves facing thousands of intertwined and ever-changing contradictions and affairs. To maintain overall order and effectiveness, one must use the strategic thought of coordination.
Coordination is a wisdom based on the overall situation. "He who does not plan for the overall situation is not sufficient to plan for a single domain." Coordination is always closely related to a holistic view; without a holistic view, coordination is impossible. This is manifested in both a broad vision of "having the whole world in one's heart" and top-level designs that reflect the requirements of the times and possess Chinese characteristics.
Coordination is a method of governance. Coordination does not mean "taking everything over" (bāobàn dàitì); rather, it means grasping the direction and steps at the overall level to coordinate the operation of the whole. Balanced coordination (tǒngchóu-jiāngù), integrated balancing, and highlighting key points to drive the overall situation are the methods. These are the methodological points for coordinating based on actual conditions and problems.
Coordination aims to realize the fundamental interests of the broadest reaches of the people. Realizing the fundamental interests of the broadest reaches of the people is the starting point and end goal of coordination. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed adhering to the people-centered development philosophy, which reflects the inherent requirement of adhering to the principal status of the people and highlights the value orientation of putting the people first.
III. The Practical Brilliance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Coordination
(1) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Coordination and Urban Work
Coordinating urban production, life, and ecology. As an important carrier of modernization, the city possesses production, life, and ecological functions, forming a "production-life-ecology" spatial complex. At the 2015 Central Urban Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly proposed the important thesis of "coordinating the three major layouts of production, life, and ecology." On one hand, the layout of production, life, and ecology is a major factor affecting the quality of life of urban residents; on the other hand, improving the quality of life of urban residents is the fundamental purpose of coordinating these three elements. It is worth mentioning that during his inspection of Shanghai in November 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed to "rationally arrange production, life, and ecological spaces, follow a path of high-quality development that is intensive, concentrated, and green, and strive to create a favorable environment suitable for work, living, leisure, and tourism, so that the people have a greater sense of gain and a happier life is created for them." This important exposition indicates that the starting point and end goal of coordinating urban production, life, and ecology is to meet the people’s needs for a better life and realize their aspirations for high-quality living.
Cities are the centers of China's economic, political, cultural, and social activities. Regarding the driving force of urban development, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: "Coordinate the three major driving forces of reform, science and technology, and culture to improve the sustainability of urban development." In particular, the report to the 20th Party Congress emphasized adhering to the principle that "cities are built by the people and for the people," improving the level of urban planning, construction, and governance, and accelerating the transformation of the development models of megacities and super-large cities. This is a major strategic deployment made by the Party Central Committee during the critical period of beginning the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country, serving as the fundamental basis and guide for action for the development of megacities and super-large cities in the coming period.
(2) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Coordination and Coordinated Urban-Rural Development
Comrade Xi Jinping has long focused on the issue of coordinated urban-rural development. In his work practice, he has conducted long-term and in-depth thinking on "Three Rural Issues" (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers), the construction of a new socialist countryside, and urban-rural integration, proposing a series of new views, requirements, and measures. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on coordinated urban-rural development consider the fact that the imbalance between rural and urban development is becoming a major contradiction in Chinese society. From China’s national conditions, the greatest developmental imbalance is between urban and rural areas, with a large gap between rural and urban development. If development ideas and paths are not adjusted quickly, this gap may further widen, eventually leading to serious economic and social imbalances. Comrade Xi Jinping firmly grasped the principal aspect of this contradiction. Proceeding from the social and economic law that the relations of production must adapt to the development of productive forces, he proposed that rural and urban areas must develop complementarily, with the focus on solving issues related to their spatial, population, and industrial layouts. The report to the 19th Party Congress proposed implementing...
The "rural revitalization strategy" is precisely a path to achieving mutually reinforcing development between rural and urban areas. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the coordinated development of urban and rural areas represent an application of the Marxist conception of space, as well as the application of the spatio-temporal perspective of "Overall Planning Science" (Tongchouxue) [9]. From a temporal dimension, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on coordinating urban-rural development inherit and develop the path of urban-rural development taken since the founding of New China; from a spatial dimension, they hold that rural and urban areas occupy equally important positions in the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society and socialist modernization.
Later, regarding an integrated systems perspective, Comrade Xi Jinping argued that to resolve the urban-rural dual structure, we must promote the integration of urban and rural development. We must "develop agriculture by looking beyond agriculture, and develop the countryside by looking beyond the countryside," placing rural and urban construction within the holistic consideration of all developmental undertakings [10]. This demonstrates that Comrade Xi Jinping is not only adept at overall planning, but also at applying holistic thinking and systems methodology to analyze and solve problems. Xi Jinping pointed out that promoting the integration of urban-rural development requires planning industrial and agricultural, as well as urban and rural development as a single whole. This facilitates mutual integration and common development in areas such as spatial planning, factor allocation, industrial development, public services, and ecological protection. The leverage point is the establishment of institutional mechanisms for urban-rural integration to form a new type of industrial-agricultural and urban-rural relationship characterized by industry promoting agriculture, cities supporting the countryside, mutual benefit between workers and peasants, and urban-rural unity. The objective is the gradual realization of equal basic rights for urban and rural residents, equalization of urban and rural public services, balanced income levels between urban and rural residents, rationalized allocation of urban and rural factors, and integrated development of urban and rural industries.
(III) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Overall Planning and Ecological Civilization Construction
Since the 18th Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to ecological civilization construction. Specifically, the CPC Central Committee has made ecological civilization construction a vital component of the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" and the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout. It has integrated the insistence on harmony between humanity and nature into the basic policy of upholding and developing Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era. The Party has strengthened ecological and environmental protection across all dimensions, regions, and processes with unprecedented determination, intensity, and effectiveness, forming Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Only by adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, planning development from the height of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, protecting the natural and ecological environment as one protects one's own eyes, and unswervingly following a path of civilized development featuring productive development, affluent life, and sound ecology, can the sustainable development of the Chinese nation be realized. From July 17 to 18, 2023, the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection was held in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the conference and delivered an important speech, emphasizing the comprehensive promotion of the "Beautiful China" [11] initiative and the acceleration of modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature.
Ecological civilization construction adheres to being "people-centered," taking the realization of the fundamental interests of the masses as the aim of overall planning. From the perspective of the subject of planning, ecological civilization construction must always uphold the principal position of the people. From the perspective of the purpose of planning, ecological civilization construction is about realizing, safeguarding, and developing the fundamental interests of the broadest possible masses. To put it another way, from the perspective of evaluative criteria, the interests of the masses constitute an essential standard. The application of the strategic thought on overall planning is manifested as follows: 1) Based on the overall situation, it strengthens the top-level design and holistic planning of ecological civilization construction. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization can be described as the concrete practice of the General Secretary’s strategic thought on overall planning within the sphere of ecological civilization. It insists on considering issues from the strategic whole, scientifically grasping the dialectical relationship between economy, nature, and society, and strengthening top-level design to achieve the goal of economic, social, and ecological benefits. 2) Adhering to a problem-oriented approach, it emphasizes coordination and cooperation in ecological civilization construction. As an important leadership method, the strategic thought on overall planning does not advocate for "dividing forces equally" [12] or attacking on all fronts when dealing with various contradictions. Regarding environmental governance, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must adhere to the principles of prioritizing both symptoms and root causes alongside specialized rectification, coordinating routine governance with emergency emission reductions, and promoting mutual reinforcement between local pollution control and regional cooperation. We must adopt multiple measures simultaneously, link multiple regions, and involve the entire society in common action."
(IV) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Strategic Thought on Overall Planning and the Coordination of Development and Security
Security is the prerequisite for development, and development is the guarantee of security. Coordinating the two major issues of development and security is a vital component of Xi Jinping Economic Thought and a concrete manifestation of the General Secretary’s strategic thought on overall planning in economic work. Since the 18th Party Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has looked at the overall situation of the cause of the Party and the state, adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, and elevated the issues of development and security to an unprecedented height. Specifically, the CPC Central Committee has based itself on the new domestic and international situations and circumstances of the new stage of development, profoundly elucidated the dialectical relationship between development and security, and emphasized the need for a comprehensive, systemic, and long-term view, using "overall planning" as the scientific methodology for handling the relationship between the two. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee for the first time incorporated the coordination of development and security into the guiding ideology for China's economic and social development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. The report to the 20th Party Congress dedicated a specific chapter to deploying the national security system and capacity building, emphasizing the coordination of development and security, and the integration of national security maintenance throughout all fields and processes of national development to achieve a benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security.
Taking the "coordination of development and security" as a basic principle for the Party's governance of the country involves strategic planning and "calculating within the command tent" [13]. To coordinate development and security, on one hand, we must persist in systems thinking, scientifically grasp the essential meaning of "overall planning," and effectively carry out forward-looking thinking, holistic planning, strategic layout, and integrated advancement. On the other hand, we must be adept at grasping the essence, seizing the key, and identifying the focus, perceiving unity within opposition and opposition within unity to fully understand the contradictory unity of development and security. Especially in practice, we must grasp the appropriate "degree" [14] between development and security, striving to achieve a dynamic balance between the two. The practice of human history has proven that discussing security in isolation from development, or development in isolation from security, is unsustainable. Therefore, we must consider them holistically, placing equal emphasis on both to achieve a dynamic balance. In short, coordinating development and security requires us to constantly observe the general trend and reflect on the overall situation.
IV. Conclusion
In summary, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic thought on overall planning consists of being adept at grasping the great cause of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics from a strategic and holistic height. It insists on observing the contemporary world and contemporary China in a manner that is comprehensive, systemic, developmental, and interconnected—rather than one-sided, fragmented, static, or isolated—and properly handling various major relationships.
In 2023, at the Central Economic Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "six better coordinations" [15]. At the opening of a study session for principal officials at the provincial and ministerial levels on studying and implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress, he emphasized that advancing Chinese-path modernization requires overall consideration, systemic planning, and holistic advancement to correctly handle a series of major relationships. This provides the fundamental following and scientific guidance for China to effectively respond to the severe and complex risks and challenges of the current and future periods, to promote an overall improvement in economic performance, and to ensure a good start for the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country. Going forward, we must study deeply, research thoroughly, and flexibly apply this scientific thought.