Li Zongjian: Adhering to a People-Centered Value Orientation in Reform
Value orientation refers to the basic stance followed and the underlying attitude held by a subject during the practical process of pursuing value-oriented goals; it plays a normative role in activities such as the selection, creation, and evaluation of value by social subjects. As a vital engine for historical progress, reform involves a value orientation concerning for whom it is conducted, upon whom it relies, and by whom it is evaluated. The comprehensive deepening of reform in the New Era was planned and promoted against the background of China's reform entering a "period of storming fortifications" and "deep-water zones" [1]. It is characterized by its broad scope, the depth of interests it touches, the difficulty of the challenges it faces, and its strong interconnectedness and synergy. Xi Jinping has accurately perceived the prevailing conditions and crises facing reform. As reform has progressed, he has promptly synthesized fresh experiences, continuously deepened the understanding of the laws governing reform, and originally proposed the new thought that "reform must persist in being people-centered." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee established "persisting in being people-centered" as a major principle for further comprehensively deepening reform, emphasizing the need to "persist in being people-centered, respect the people’s principal status and pioneering spirit, ensure that reform responds to what the people call for, and ensure that reform is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people." This fully demonstrates the fundamental political stance of the Communist Party of China and constitutes the Party’s profound reflection and clear answer regarding the value orientation of comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era.
I. Being People-Centered Inherits and Develops the Marxist View of the People
The fundamental mission of Marxism is to change the historical destiny of the people and achieve human liberation. The historical materialism established by Marx and Engels scientifically answered the major puzzle in social and historical outlooks—"who creates history"—and clearly posited that the masses are the subjects of history and the creators of history. As a Marxist party, the Communist Party of China has always adhered to the Marxist view of the masses as the makers of history, maintained that the masses are the decisive force driving social development, and creatively proposed the idea of persisting in being people-centered. In the practice of leading the people’s great struggle, the Party has continuously inherited and developed the Marxist view of the people.
(1) Being for the people is the essential attribute of Marxism
The "people-nature" (人民性) is the most distinctive character of Marxism; achieving the liberation of the people was Marx's lifelong pursuit. Marx noted: "With the thoroughness of the historical action, the size of the mass whose action it is will therefore increase." Philosophers before Marx adhered to the "heroic view of history," belittling or despising the historical role of the people. In class societies, the people created wealth but could hardly enjoy the fruits of their labor; although they were the subjective force creating history, they did not obtain a corresponding status as historical subjects. This contradiction is particularly prominent in capitalist society. Under the dominance of the logic of capital, wealth distribution is severely unequal, and laborers fall into the predicament of poverty and exploitation. The historical materialism founded by Marx and Engels fundamentally changed this cognitive paradigm. It proposed that "real individuals" are the starting point for understanding social history. These individuals are not abstract existences; rather, they are people engaged in active material production and labor under specific socio-historical conditions. Based on this assertion, Marx and Engels broke through the limitations of the heroic view of history—which held that history was dominated by the thoughts and motives of individual heroic figures—and keenly perceived the material motives hidden behind human historical activities that play a fundamental driving role: namely, that historical activity is, in the final analysis, the practical activity of real people. On this basis, Marx and Engels pointed out that the mode of production is the real foundation of social life, constraining the entire process of social life. They corrected the view of the people as an abstract "political man" detached from material production and social relations of production, thereby establishing the working masses as the subject of the people and the decisive force of history.
Throughout their long theoretical and practical careers, Marx and Engels gradually established a scientific view of the masses guided by historical materialism and systematically argued for the great role of the masses in historical development. They believed that if one seeks the true ultimate drive of history, the key does not lie in individuals, even exceptionally brilliant ones, but rather in the broad masses and entire nations, "and specifically the motives that set whole classes into motion within each nation." From this, they concluded that the masses are not only the creators of social material and spiritual wealth but also the decisive force driving social and historical change. This scientific conclusion acted like a key, releasing people from the shackles of idealism and lighting the way toward perceiving the true nature of human history and accurately grasping the laws of social development. At the same time, using the practical activities of "real people" pursuing interests as a logical starting point, Marx and Engels recognized that the people are the subjects of value and the enjoyers of social material and spiritual wealth. They continuously formed and enriched the thought of the people's interests: "All previous movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." With historical materialism as their bedrock, Marx and Engels clarified a value orientation that takes the people as the principal force and the all-around development of the person as the core essence. Simultaneously, they persisted in making the protection of the people's interests the fundamental value pursuit. Contained within this is the internal logic for the generation of the "people-centered" axiology. The reason Marxism possesses an influence that transcends time and space is that it is deeply rooted in the people and "points out the correct path for relying on the people to push history forward."
(2) Putting the people first is the fundamental political stance of the Communist Party of China
The question of stance has always been the fundamental issue for a political party or organization; it relates to the fundamental nature and basic attributes of that party or organization. The people’s stance is the fundamental stance of Marxist historical materialism. As a proletarian party guided by Marxism, the Communist Party of China has always stuck to the people's stance and won the people's heartfelt support. It has united and led the people through the historical periods of revolution, construction, and reform, performing immortal feats for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
During the New Democratic Revolution [2], Mao Zedong pointed out: "The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history." In the "Manifesto on the Founding of the Xiangjiang Review," he proposed: "What force is strongest? The force of the union of the masses is strongest." He emphasized that the masses are the fundamental force of revolutionary war: "The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them." At the Seventh National Congress of the Party, Mao Zedong proposed the need to serve the people whole-heartedly, never for a moment divorcing ourselves from the masses, and proceeding in all cases from the interests of the people rather than from the interests of individuals or small groups: "The identity of our responsibility to the people and our responsibility to the leading organs of the Party is our starting point." He thus elevated "serving the people whole-heartedly" to the Party's fundamental purpose at a political level. In 1949, at the preparatory meeting for the New Political Consultative Conference, Mao Zedong pointed out: Once China's destiny is in the hands of the people, China will rise like the sun from the East, "illuminating the earth with its own brilliant flames." After the founding of the New China, the Party led the people in establishing a new type of political system where the people are the masters of the country [3], establishing the fundamental political principle that all power in the state belongs to the people, and confirming the supremacy of the people’s status at the institutional level.
After the start of reform and opening up, our Party has always taken the interests of the people as the highest criterion for grasping the direction and process of reform, untiringly seeking to improve the people's well-being and promote common prosperity. Deng Xiaoping spoke many times on this: "Poverty is not socialism; socialism must eliminate poverty. If we do not develop the productive forces and do not raise the people's standard of living, we cannot say we are meeting the requirements of socialism." Our Party attaches great importance to the status and role of the masses, persisting in drawing ideological nourishment and progressive strength from the people's activities in creating history, and relying closely on the masses to push forward the cause of reform and opening up. During reform and opening up, many new things were first proposed by the broad masses in practice; "it is by no means the case that one person’s brain can just drill out something new"; "it is the wisdom of the masses, the collective wisdom." It was precisely the immense wisdom and pioneering spirit hidden among the masses that allowed China's reform to "break out of the cocoon" and form a "prairie fire" [4], pushing the reform process to extend from the countryside to the cities and from the economy to all other fields, opening a new path and performing a new cause through the exploration of "crossing the river by feeling the stones." Because of this, Comrade Deng Xiaoping profoundly pointed out that the masses are the source of our strength; if a Party organization is seriously divorced from the masses and cannot make a painful determination to resolutely correct it, "then it will lose its source of strength, will definitely fail, and will be abandoned by the people." The history of reform and opening up tells us that it was the masses who, with their wisdom and sweat, drove the historical process of the great practice of reform and opening up.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping has established "putting the people first" as the fundamental stance and principle of governance, emphasizing that the masses are the fundamental motive force for creating history: "We Communists must never at any time forget this most basic truth of historical materialism." The people are the "fundamental force that determines the future and destiny of the Party and the country." In the practice of leading the people to promote great changes, he accurately summarized the distinctive characteristic that "the Party's foundation is in the people, its lifeline is in the people, and its strength is in the people." He clearly explained the internal logic that "Chinese-path modernization is the cause of hundreds of millions of people themselves, and the people are the subjects of Chinese-path modernization." He profoundly interpreted the essential connotation that "the land is the people, and the people are the land" [5], and organically integrated the ideological essence of "the world belongs to the public" (天下为公) and "the people are the foundation of the state" (民为邦本) from fine traditional Chinese culture. Thus, he clearly proposed the practical requirement to respect the principal status and pioneering spirit of the masses, systematically elevating our Party’s understanding that "the nature of the people is the essential attribute of Marxism" to a new realm. As contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era—founded in the practice of great changes—takes "putting the people first" as the fundamental stance, viewpoint, and method running through it, providing a scientific guide for us to profoundly recognize and grasp the people-centered value orientation from the height of worldview and methodology.
II. Promoting Social Fairness and Justice and Enhancing the People's Well-being Are the Value Goals of Reform
The subjectivity of value determines that value issues must be "understood from the subjective side"; the liberation of "real people" is the highest value scale and most fundamental principle of Marxism. The reform led by the Communist Party of China has a direction, principles, and a stance. Only when reform is for the people does it have meaning. The comprehensive deepening of reform in the New Era takes the promotion of social fairness and justice and the enhancement of the people's well-being as its starting point and destination. Focusing on the thoughts, expectations, worries, and urgent needs of the masses, it has continuously introduced a series of major reform measures and achieved a series of major reform results. This has driven solid steps toward common prosperity for all people, continuously improved the quality of the people’s lives, and steadily increased the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, vividly demonstrating the people-centered value orientation of reform.
(1) The people-centered development philosophy provides value compliance for reform
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Xi Jinping has clearly proposed the people-centered development philosophy, emphasizing that the masses are the fundamental force driving development, and that we must "take the enhancement of people's well-being and the promotion of the all-around development of the person as the starting point and goal of development." At the same time, he advocates developing people's democracy and defending social fairness and justice to ensure people have the right to equal participation and equal development, stimulating the initiative, proactivity, and creativity of the people in an all-around way.
On the one hand, adhering to the people-centered development philosophy is an inevitable requirement of the transformation of the principal contradiction in Chinese society. With new changes in domestic and international situations and new developments in practice, China's reform has entered a "deep-water zone" and a "period of storming fortifications." The transformation of the principal contradiction in society [6] indicates that there are many problems in reality that do not meet the new expectations of the masses, such as unbalanced and insufficient economic development, large development gaps between urban and rural areas and between regions, and imperfect social security. These new contradictions and problems put forward new requirements for reform and development. In the New Era, the Party must take the people's longing for a better life as its goal of struggle and determine its development strategy by closely grasping the primary aspect of the principal contradiction in society. While "taking economic construction as the center is the key to national rejuvenation, and development remains the key to solving all our country's problems," development must proceed from solving the prominent problems of general concern to the masses. While maintaining economic growth, we must persist in taking the improvement of development quality and efficiency as the center, achieving development that is of higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable, making continuous progress in meeting the people's new expectations for a better life.
On the other hand, upholding the development philosophy of centering on the people clarifies the forward direction of moving steadily toward achieving common prosperity for all people. Within the context of modernization, achieving common prosperity for all constitutes the essential core of Chinese-path modernization and serves as a prominent marker distinguishing it from Western models of modernization. The Western modernization process exhibits a narrow orientation dominated absolutely by capital, deviating from the essential meaning of development centered on the people. It prioritizes the pursuit of capital interests and disregards the vital interests and demands of the vast majority of the populace, thereby giving rise to the severe predicament of a continuously widening gap between the rich and the poor and intensifying social polarization. Simultaneously, some developing countries, in their exploration of modernization, once touched the boundaries of developed nations but fell into the "middle-income trap" because they failed to effectively solve deep-seated structural issues such as polarization and class stratification [7]. Their economic development became mired in long-term stagnation or even serious regression, casting a shadow over the path of modernization. The development pursued by Chinese-path modernization has the ultimate goal of benefiting the people, and the prosperity it aspires to is the common prosperity of all people. "Whether the success of reform and development is achieved depends ultimately on whether the people share in the fruits of reform and development."
On the New Journey [8] of the New Era, our Party regards the advancement of Chinese-path modernization as the greatest political priority. Focusing on economic construction and high-quality development, the Party strives both to "make the cake bigger" and to "divide the cake well," focusing on solving a series of livelihood issues such as employment, education, and medical care. In particular, the Party is building a system of three-tiered distribution, regulating the order of distribution and the mechanism for wealth accumulation, "guiding and regulating the healthy development of capital in accordance with the law, gradually expanding the middle-income group, and narrowing the income distribution gap," so that the fruits of reform and development benefit all people more extensively and fairly, resolutely preventing and avoiding polarization.
(2) Promoting social fairness and justice is the fundamental purpose of comprehensively deepening reform
"Fairness and justice are inherent requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics" and are important principles that must be upheld in further comprehensively deepening reform while advancing Chinese-path modernization. Xi Jinping pointed out, "The purpose of serving the people whole-heartedly determines that we must pursue fairness and justice," and "The fundamental purpose of our Party in promoting the comprehensive deepening of reform is to promote social fairness and justice, and to let the fruits of reform and development benefit all people more extensively and fairly." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee frequently mentioned fairness and equality, emphasizing that in the process of further comprehensively deepening reform, promoting social fairness and justice and increasing the people's well-being must be taken as the starting point and the ultimate goal. This deeply demonstrates the Party’s unswerving reverence for and pursuit of the values of fairness and justice.
As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters the New Era, the people’s expectations for a better life have become stronger, and their perception of fairness and justice has become deeper. Chinese-path modernization aims to give everyone the opportunity to develop themselves and contribute to society, ensuring that everyone participates and develops equally, and shares in the brilliance of life and the realization of dreams, thereby safeguarding social fairness and justice. As the internal value support of Chinese-path modernization, fairness and justice serve as a prominent sign of progress in social civilization and embody the people's yearning for a better life. Entering the New Era, based on the joint struggles of all people and the achievements of economic and social development, our Party has accelerated the construction of an institutional system that plays a key supporting role in guaranteeing social fairness and justice. It has gradually built a social equity guarantee framework with the equality of rights, opportunities, and rules as its core elements, striving to create a fair and just social ecosystem and conscientiously defending the people's rights to participate equally in social affairs and seek development on an equal footing. At the same time, the concept of fairness and justice has been deeply integrated into the entire process of the integrated construction of a law-based country, a law-based government, and a law-based society. It runs through every key link of legislation, law enforcement, justice, and law-abidance. Through a series of solid measures and significant results, a solid barrier has been built and strong momentum injected for social fairness and justice, powerfully pushing society toward a more fair and just direction.
As the comprehensive deepening of reform enters a new stage, it should focus on improving and expanding those institutional systems that play a key supporting role in guaranteeing social fairness and justice, striving to better safeguard and promote social fairness and justice. Promoting social fairness and justice and increasing the people’s well-being should be used as a yardstick to examine institutional mechanisms and policy regulations in all aspects: "Whichever field or link has prominent problems is the focus of reform." First, we must grasp the main thread of letting the fruits of reform and development benefit all people more extensively and fairly, adhere to the coordination of the whole and the key parts, and use systems thinking to oversee all aspects, levels, elements, and groups. We must plan reform strategies and decide on reform measures based on the fundamental interests of the people. Second, in the process of reform, we must create a fairer and more dynamic market environment, create a level playing field for all types of business entities, and continuously stimulate the internal drive and innovative vitality of the whole society. Third, the realization of the value of social fairness and justice must be guaranteed by a robust system of the rule of law. In the process of deepening legislative reform, it is necessary to actively respond to new challenges regarding social fairness and justice arising from emerging fields, new business forms, new quality elements, and demands for new types of rights. Continuous efforts must be made to improve the mechanisms for fair law enforcement and justice to ensure that the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case.
(3) Centering on the people is ultimately reflected in continuously increasing the people’s well-being
Increasing the people’s well-being is an inherent requirement of the CPC’s commitment to "establishing the Party for the public and exercising power for the people" [9]. Letting the people live a good life is the starting point and ultimate goal of all reforms and development promoted by the Party. Development is the Party's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country; if development deviates from the people’s expectations or fails to bring actual benefits to the masses, it will lose its meaning and become unsustainable. The fundamental purpose of reform is to let the people live a good life. The voice of the people is the "wind vane" of reform. What they care about in their hearts and what they look forward to with anticipation are precisely the key points that reform should accurately anchor, tackle with all efforts, and continuously promote. In the New Era, the Party led the people by starting with the most immediate and practical interests that the masses care about most. It fought the battle against poverty with full force and solved the problem of absolute poverty in one stroke. It built the world's largest education, social security, and medical and health systems, paving a solid road for all people to move toward common prosperity. The quality of life of the people has continued to leap, and their sense of gain, happiness, and security has continued to strengthen, fully demonstrating our Party's solemn commitment to continuously increasing the people's well-being during reform.
Further comprehensively deepening reform must firmly grasp the fundamental mission of seeking happiness for the people. In planning and promoting reform, we must always proceed from the overall, fundamental, and long-term interests of the people, take the improvement of people's well-being as the final manifestation of reform achievements, and actively respond to the new expectations of the masses. On the one hand, when formulating reform policies and plans, we must persist in "asking the people about their needs," using "small incisions" [10] to locate the "large direction," and integrating the small livelihood matters that the masses care about into the top-level design of national reform. We must persist in searching for institutional and mechanical defects behind the problems that the masses generally pay attention to, react strongly to, and which occur repeatedly, so as to identify the key points and breakthroughs for deepening reform. On the other hand, we should plan and formulate implementation measures based on the reality of China's economic and social development and the interests of the people. We should focus on the people's interest concerns, target key groups in need of care, and promote the implementation of livelihood guarantees such as child care and education at a higher level, so as to improve the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security in an all-round way, making the well-being of the people more direct and substantial.
At the same time, in the process of increasing the people's well-being through reform, we must both "do our best" and "act within our capabilities," rationally guiding expectations for reform. It must be seen that reform is a process of adjusting the structure of interests, and it is impossible to satisfy the interests and demands of everyone at the same time. In the process of reform, it is necessary to guide cadres and the masses to establish an overall perspective, look at the reshaping of the interest pattern and individual gains and losses caused by reform rationally, and fully realize that reform, as a complex and long-term systemic project, is incremental in nature and cannot solve all problems overnight. We "cannot be eager for quick success or aim too high, and should not set the tone too high or whet the appetite too much." Instead, we must seek truth from facts, proceed from reality in everything, strike steadily, accumulate small victories into big ones, and persistently perform well in all work to improve the people's well-being, so that the people can continuously see new changes and receive new benefits.
III. Respecting the people's principal status and pioneering spirit is the fundamental driving force for promoting reform
The people are the true motive force and eternal subject of social development, playing the dual roles of "actors" and "playwrights" in history. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Reform is the cause of the people themselves; it requires the participation of all people and unity to overcome difficulties." On the New Journey, we must rely closely on the power of the people to promote reform, fully stimulate the people's spirit of historical initiative and historical creativity, and gather the wisdom and strength of all people to continuously promote the development of Chinese-path modernization. This is a historical necessity and also the responsibility and mission endowed by the times.
(1) The masses are the principal force in promoting reform and opening up
The people's spirit of historical initiative and historical creativity is the concentrated expression of the wisdom of the masses and the vivid manifestation of the creative practice of the people's principal power in reform and opening up. "The great historical drama of reform and opening up is performed by hundreds of millions of people," and it is the people who released majestic power to create the glorious achievements of China's reform and opening up. The fundamental reason why the vast masses wholeheartedly support and actively participate in the great cause of reform and opening up is that "we rooted the cause of reform and opening up deeply among the people from the very beginning," thus ensuring that reform and opening up "possess the guidance of unwavering value goals and the continuous drive of subjective power," always remaining full of vigor and vitality.
The major practical, institutional, and theoretical achievements made in the process of comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era all originate from the wisdom, exploration, and creation of the people. Practice shows that only by fully respecting the wishes expressed by the people, the experience created by the people, the rights possessed by the people, and the roles played by the people, will the masses actively support and participate in reform, and the great cause of reform and opening up will have a strong foundation. For example, in the overall pattern of improving the social governance system, the "Fengqiao Experience" [11]—created by cadres and the masses in Fengqiao Town, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province in the practice of primary-level social governance, which emphasizes "mobilizing and relying on the masses to ensure that contradictions are not handed over to higher levels and are resolved locally"—has been continuously deepened and expanded in practice, gradually forming the "Fengqiao Experience" in the New Era with distinct characteristics. Under the leadership of the Party, primary-level organizations adhere to and implement the Party's mass line, fully mobilize, organize, and rely on the masses, and let the masses solve their own affairs independently, achieving good governance results such as "trivial matters do not leave the village, major matters do not leave the town, and contradictions are not handed over to higher levels." The "Fengqiao Experience" in the New Era provides a significant practical exploration for us to improve the urban and rural primary-level governance system that combines self-governance, the rule of law, and the rule of virtue under the leadership of Party organizations, and to improve the social governance system of common construction, common governance, and shared benefits. It has become a banner of primary-level social governance and a "name card" of "China’s Governance." Born in rural areas, the "Fengqiao Experience" takes strengthening the primary-level foundation and resolving problems locally as its core concept. This concept breaks through regional limitations and is universal, having important guiding significance for both rural and urban primary-level governance. We must proactively adapt to changes in the context of primary-level governance and gradually realize a governance leap from rural to urban-rural, from social to multi-domain, and from offline to offline-online coordination, so as to create a safe and stable social environment for promoting Chinese-path modernization. Further comprehensively deepening reform must systematically grasp the "theory of reform dynamics" that "only by relying on the people for reform can there be momentum." Whether it is top-level design or primary-level innovation, economic reform or reform in other fields, we must rely closely on the power of the people as the main subject. We should focus on stabilizing expectations and strengthening confidence to guide public opinion on reform, broadly gather consensus on reform, fully mobilize all positive factors in reform practice, and give full play to the driving role of the masses.
(2) Adhering to the principal status of the people, giving play to the pioneering spirit of the masses, and relying closely on the people to promote reform
The masses possess rich wisdom and immense creative power. Looking back at the magnificent journey of reform and opening up, every breakthrough and deepening—whether at the conceptual level or in the realm of practice—and every emergence and growth of new things, or the nurturing and gathering of experience in various fields and links, has its source deeply rooted in the hands-on practice and extraordinary wisdom of hundreds of millions of people. The masses have always been the majestic force driving the great ship of reform and opening up forward through the waves. Xi Jinping pointed out: "In front of the people, we are always primary school students; we must consciously take the people as our teachers, seek instruction from the capable, and ask the wise for strategies." Living at the front lines of practice, the masses are sensitive to changes, have profound insights, and are full of wisdom. The first-hand experience they accumulate and the authentic problems they report are precisely the key keys to unlocking the dilemmas of reform, breaking through the limitations of thinking, and finding paths to solutions. Currently, the CPC Central Committee's major principles for further comprehensively deepening reform have been set, and the goals, tasks, and requirements are very clear. How to find the correct direction and approach for solving problems during implementation still requires fully releasing the creative vitality of the people and seeking the breakthroughs and leverage points for reform from the practices of the masses and explorations at the grassroots.
To give play to the people's pioneering spirit in reform, it is essential to emphasize extracting fresh experience from their creative practical activities, elevating this to the level of rational cognition, and refining new theoretical crystallization. We must strive to ensure that the Party's theory of reform is deeply rooted in the soil of reality, fully pooling the wisdom of the people, conforming to their will, and winning their hearts, finally using this to guide a new round of practical exploration in reform. This forms a virtuous cycle from practice to theory and then from theory back to practice. For example, people’s democracy is the lifeblood of socialism; what kind of democratic system to implement and what path of democratic development to take are major tasks in comprehensively deepening reform. Based on the extensive democratic exploration and practical experience of the Chinese masses at the grassroots, our Party has continued to conduct in-depth research into the essential characteristics of democracy and the laws governing the development of democratic politics. Xi Jinping creatively summarized democratic elements such as democratic elections, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic oversight as "whole-process people's democracy." On November 2, 2019, during an inspection of the grassroots legislative contact point in Hongqiao Subdistrict, Changning District, Shanghai, Xi Jinping clearly proposed for the first time the important thesis that people's democracy is a "whole-process democracy." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress further proposed that "whole-process people's democracy is the defining feature of socialist democracy; it is democracy in its broadest, most genuine, and most effective form," and the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made comprehensive deployments for improving the institutional system of whole-process people's democracy. Our Party develops whole-process people's democracy, expands democratic channels, and enriches democratic forms precisely to ensure that the people run the country, to guarantee the people's principal status, to fully reflect the people's will, to protect the people's rights and interests, and to stimulate the people's creative vitality. This enables them to immerse themselves with a sense of ownership and enthusiasm into the building of Chinese-path modernization, which also serves as the institutional guarantee for pushing forward reform by relying closely on the people.
As an important institutional support for promoting reform by relying on the people, whole-process people's democracy possesses distinct characteristics: on one hand, it highlights its "popular nature," vividly practicing the people-centered philosophy of development and integrating the principle of the people running the country into all fields and the entire process of the Party's governance, ensuring that the will of the broadest masses is fully reflected, their rights are fully realized, and their interests are fully protected. On the other hand, it emphasizes the "whole process," ensuring that the masses participate continuously in all links of the democratic operation, forming a complete chain where each link is interconnected, ensuring that the desires and demands of the masses are fully expressed. Therefore, the institutional form of whole-process people's democracy created by the people under the Party's leadership in comprehensively deepening reform is both "democracy in daily life," used to solve practical problems in the production and lives of the masses, and "democracy in governance," requiring all organs of public power to implement democratic principles throughout the entire governance process. More importantly, whole-process people's democracy emphasizes broad participation and consultation in the political and governance processes, focusing on solving practical problems in reform and development through democratic means. This provides an effective practical path and institutional support for fully respecting the people's principal status and giving play to the people's pioneering spirit in further comprehensively deepening reform.
(3) Following the Party’s mass line in the New Era and unifying the strengthening of top-level design with the practice of "asking the people for suggestions"
The mass line is the lifeblood and fundamental work line of the Communist Party of China; it embodies the Marxist view of the masses and fully demonstrates the value orientation of adhering to a people-centered approach. By upholding the mass line, our Party accurately grasps the needs of the people, actively responds to their concerns, effectively demonstrates their desires, and continuously improves their well-being in the process of reflecting on issues, making decisions, and implementing reforms, "striving to ensure that the Party’s theories, lines, principles, and policies receive the heartfelt support of the masses." To follow the Party's mass line in the New Era while further comprehensively deepening reform, we must persist in looking downward and stepping downward, innovating and expanding the channels and methods for collecting information on social conditions and public opinion. We should extensively utilize mass line work methods such as the "front-line work method," "grand research and investigation" [12], and "visiting four hundred" [13]. We must constantly stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the masses to participate in and promote reform, brainstorming for reform together and exerting efforts for reform together, rather than working behind closed doors, engaging in empty talk, or lapsing into idle dreams.
First, reform agendas should be set around resolving prominent contradictions that the masses care about and focus on, and the mechanism for generating key reform plans should be optimized. We must combine top-level design with "crossing the river by feeling the stones" [14], fully absorbing social expectations, the wisdom of the masses, expert opinions, and grassroots experience into the design of reform. This ensures that reform measures are more realistic and "down-to-earth" while also allowing for the timely discovery of problems and correction of deviations through public feedback and social opinion. Taking the "Grassroots Legislative Contact Point of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress" in Hongqiao Subdistrict, Changning District, Shanghai as an example, this pioneering national initiative served as a key practical cornerstone for the emergence of the concept of whole-process people's democracy. This contact point has achieved remarkable results in the legislative process, having solicited opinions on 55 draft laws and carefully summarized over a thousand suggestions, 72 of which were successfully adopted into law. The providers of these adopted suggestions cover a diverse range of groups, including professional elites like lawyers and professors, but also subdistrict residents, retired cadres, and even primary and secondary school students. As an institutional bridge deeply connecting state organs with grassroots society, the grassroots legislative contact point possesses a unique character and significant value in "two-way interaction." On one hand, the grassroots masses gain a platform to speak freely and fully express their demands; on the other hand, state organs use this to extensively gather public will, effectively breaking down barriers and achieving a virtuous interaction between the state and society, injecting fresh vitality into the construction of democracy and the rule of law.
Second, we must persist in asking the people for suggestions, drawing inspiration for reform and innovation from the insights of the masses. In the face of new problems and contradictions derived from new fields, new practices, and new business formats, we should encourage grassroots organizations and local governments to forge ahead with determination and bold innovation. They should continue to explore during the process of implementing reform tasks, creating and accumulating fresh experiences that are both replicable and generalizable, thereby building a solid foundation and broadening the path for comprehensively deepening reform. Currently, accelerating the development of new quality productive forces has become an inherent requirement and key focus for promoting high-quality development; it is also a major strategic choice and a powerful supporting measure for advancing the process of Chinese-path modernization. The development of new quality productive forces inevitably requires a corresponding set of relations of production, and the blockchain technology developed through grassroots exploration is providing the basic technical support for these new types of relations of production. The key to blockchain lies in technical means such as distributed ledgers, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and privacy computing. Together, these build a security defense for data on the chain, ensuring compliance and stability throughout the data lifecycle while achieving real-time information sharing, value transmission, and equal exchange between nodes on the chain. For example, the "Blockchain + Medical Supply Chain" project in the List of National Blockchain Innovation Application Pilot Projects—jointly released by sixteen ministries and commissions including the Cyberspace Administration of China—fully reflects the core role of blockchain technology in supporting new types of relations of production. This project utilizes functions like "distributed ledgers" in blockchain technology to include medical institutions, distribution companies, financial institutions, and regulatory departments such as the Medical Insurance Bureau as synchronous bookkeeping nodes on the chain. In this way, technical means are used to change original business processes, achieving real-time, whole-process supervision of drug procurement, supply, and use. This effectively supports new relations of production in the medical supply chain field, thereby guaranteeing the rigid implementation of national centralized procurement policies, reducing the burden of medical treatment for the masses, and enhancing the people's sense of gain from the reform of the medical security system.
IV. Actual performance and effectiveness and the satisfaction of the masses are the fundamental standards for testing reform
The testing and evaluation of reform is both a link in the reform process and a "baton" that directs it. What standards are used to judge reform is a major political issue that concerns the Party's style of work, its way of thinking, and its working methods; it reflects the Party's nature, fundamental position, and fundamental purpose. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee clearly identified actual performance and effectiveness and the satisfaction of the masses as the standards for testing reform. This is conducive to urging Party members and cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance in reform, promoting the continuous and solid deepening of comprehensive reform.
(1) The fundamental interests of the people are the supreme standard for judging reform
The question of who one serves is the touchstone for testing the nature of a political party or a regime. Marx and Engels openly declared: "The Communists... have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole," and "The Communists point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality." As a Marxist party in power for the long term, the CPC consistently adheres to the philosophy of "founding the Party for the public and governing for the people." It does not seek any special private interests for itself and "has never represented the interests of any interest group, any power group, or any privileged class; this is the fundamental reason why the Party remains invincible." Reform is the Party's proposition and is carried out under the Party's leadership. Xi Jinping has pointed out: "The times are the examiner, we are the examinees, and the people are the graders." This shows that the Party’s level and effectiveness of governance are not for the Party to proclaim or evaluate itself; the power of judgment lies in the hands of the people. As the ultimate "referee" of all the Party's work, the people are the most authoritative judges and evaluators; only through the people’s recognition can the value of the Party's work be demonstrated. Therefore, the highest standard of practical evaluation is not the duration of the practice, "but whether it can realize and maintain the fundamental interests of the broadest masses; it is the value orientation of practice." Consequently, when testing the effectiveness of various tasks, especially reform, one must take the people's interests as the highest orientation and the fundamental interests of the broadest masses as the supreme yardstick.
Adhering to a people-centered approach fundamentally defines the value standard for evaluating whether reform is correct and how effective it is. Only by properly solving the problem of "how to evaluate" reform can a complete closed loop be formed in the value orientation of reform, thereby fundamentally realizing and maintaining the fundamental interests of the broadest masses. At present, the key to establishing and improving a "people-centered" reform evaluation mechanism is to use the fundamental interests of the broadest masses as the scale of evaluation, using those interests to lead and evaluate reform. In advancing reform, we must be courageous enough to "uphold the truth and correct errors for the sake of the people's interests," timely correcting ideological misunderstandings, decision-making errors, and shortcomings in work, and resolving contradictions and problems in reform. This ensures that the concepts and actions of reform align with objective laws, the trends of the times, and the expectations of the people.
(2) The satisfaction of the masses is the most important yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of reform
The people's sense of gain and satisfaction are the best indicators of the "gold content" [15] of reform and are the key yardsticks for measuring its success or failure. How the reform is going "is ultimately judged by whether the people enjoy the fruits of reform and development together." Therefore, regarding whether reform is effective and whether its results are recognized and durable, the ordinary people have the most say. We must take the satisfaction of the masses as the most important yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of reform, using the "expressions on the people's faces" to test the "quality" of reform achievements. To measure the level of modernization, one cannot look only at various indicators and data on paper; the key is to see the people’s happiness, health, and actual feelings. In the work of improving people's well-being in the process of comprehensively deepening reform, we have achieved good results, but there are also many shortcomings in some areas; in many respects, the people's sense of gain is not yet strong enough, and their satisfaction is not yet high enough. This reminds us that in reform, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, taking the resolution of practical problems related to the people's happy lives as the starting point for formulating reform plans. We should respond more actively to the people's concerns, perceive their urgent needs and anxieties using the people's own way of thinking, and be well-informed and capable of handling the problems and contradictions they report. We must ensure that reform measures precisely meet the needs of development, the expectations of the grassroots, and the desires of the people, implementation with the spirit of "leaving a mark in the iron and a footprint in the stone" [16] to ensure that reform takes root and achieves results.
On one hand, we must persist in "asking the people about their needs," breaking down "major livelihood matters" into specific [17], "critical minor matters" [18]. We must start by solving issues such as "firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea" [19]—those matters most closely related to the interests of the masses—ensuring that reform measures aimed at warming the people's hearts and benefiting their lives truly resonate with them. On the other hand, we must improve and perfect regularized evaluation mechanisms for "asking the people about effectiveness" and "asking the people about performance." We must clear channels for the masses to express themselves, regularly conduct "looking back" [20] exercises, assess the effectiveness of reforms, and listen to the inner voice of the masses. We cannot allow reforms to be implemented in a way that leaves the masses feeling indifferent, and even less can we force the masses to passively accept reform. Instead, we must gradually optimize reform measures and consolidate reform achievements through benign interaction. We must reap the confidence, trust, and reliance of the masses through repeated inquiries into effectiveness, ensuring the people truly experience a growing sense of gain, happiness, and security through reform.
(3) Firmly establishing a correct outlook on performance that benefits the people to ensure reforms continuously achieve tangible results.
An outlook on performance [21] is the manifestation of a leading official’s worldview, outlook on life, and values, as well as their views on power, status, interests, and career, within the context of their daily work and entrepreneurship. Xi Jinping has emphasized: "Family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs—making the people live a happy life is the top priority." He has also noted: "The Communist Party of China regards working for the people and bringing benefits to the people as the most important political achievement, and uses how many good and practical things have been done for the ordinary people as the important standard for testing performance." Only when Party members and officials firmly establish a correct outlook on performance that creates benefits for the people during the reform process can they ensure that reform measures are implemented accurately and effectively.
A correct outlook on performance emphasizes standing on the long term and focusing on the overall situation. It does not pursue short-term, superficial achievements, but rather focuses on planning and acting for the substantial, long-term progress of the country and the lasting happiness of the people. Further comprehensively deepening reform is a complex systematic project; its degree of complexity, sensitivity, and difficulty increases accordingly. Reforms such as the household registration (hukou) system reform, which involves deep-seated adjustments of interests, or the medical system reform, which touches upon existing patterns, often face complex situations such as contradictions between different interest groups, divergence of ideas, and issues left over from history. In such a context, a correct outlook on performance can support Party members and officials—through their value standpoint, convictions, and sense of responsibility—to always act as promoters and practitioners of reform, and as people who are close to and care for the masses, grasping the implementation of reform with the "spirit of driving a nail" [22]. We must both base ourselves on the present, doing visible and tangible practical things for the common people to create "manifest merit" [23]; and look to the long term, laying foundations for future generations through "potential merit" [24], taking the pursuit of the people's heartfelt recognition and the fair judgment that stands the test of history as our value orientation. With the spiritual realm of "success does not have to happen through me" and the historical responsibility of "I must contribute to the realization of success," we must resolve contradictions and break through dilemmas step-by-step in promoting reform, accurately placing good and practical deeds in the hearts of the masses, and working with all our might to polish the quality of the sense of gain, consolidate the foundation of the sense of happiness, and build a strong barrier for the sense of security.
To establish and practice a correct outlook on performance during reform, we must resolutely discard formalism and bureaucratism—behaviors characterized by a keenness for performing for those at higher levels while ignoring the needs of the masses and disregarding actual results. We must place more focus on the evaluation of the actual performance and effectiveness of work and reform, preventing the central Party leadership's reform decisions and deployments from lapsing into empty talk within "mountains of documents and seas of meetings" [25] or failing to take root. We must earnestly comprehend that being responsible to the people and being responsible to the Party are essentially the same; the two are unified in the responsibility for the cause of the Party and the people. Although "responsibility to the superiors" and "responsibility to the subordinates" have different forms of expression, fundamentally, the ultimate purpose and foothold of both lie in being responsible to the people. "Only following the superiors" [26] while leaving the foundation of practice is ultimately a "flower in the mirror or the moon in the water" [27]. In practice, Party members and officials must have the courage to carry forward the Party's spirit of self-revolution, promote a style of seeking truth and doing practical work, use scientific thinking and methods, persist in the truth and correct mistakes, and discover problems and rectify deviations, thereby ensuring that further comprehensively deepening reform continuously achieves tangible results.
In short, the people-centered value orientation of reform is the intellectual crystallization of the combination of the Marxist view of the people with the practice of contemporary Chinese reform. It elucidates the unity of the people’s principal status and their principal role, embodying the spiritual essence of Marxism being rooted in the people. To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must firmly grasp "the people" as the logical starting point and value destination, highlighting the people-oriented nature of the direction of modernization. We must insist that the people are the subjects of Chinese-path modernization and the most solid foundation and deepest strength for promoting modernization. We must fully respect the principal status and pioneering spirit of the masses, taking the promotion of social equity and justice and the enhancement of the people's well-being as the starting point and foothold of all reforms, and testing reforms by actual results and the satisfaction of the masses. We must always ensure that reform is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people, truly allowing the masses to continuously enhance their sense of gain, happiness, and security through reform, and continuously injecting strong impetus into Chinese-path modernization through further comprehensively deepening reform.