Chen Ye: "A Systematic Project With 'Success in the Present and Benefit for Centuries to Come'"
The Chinese nation has endured for millennia, possessing a long-standing tradition of compiling history and canons, preserving chronicles to enlighten wisdom, and educating people through culture. During his tenure in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping attached great importance to advancing cultural construction through the medium of cultural projects. He emphasized that “for the present and coming period, we must focus on researching, demonstrating, and successfully advancing the construction of major projects for building a major cultural province, continuously strengthening the soft power that constitutes Zhejiang’s comprehensive competitiveness.” Based on the developmental trends of the era and facing real-world cultural needs with a broad strategic vision, he personally drew the blueprint for and promoted the implementation of the “Eight Major Projects” of cultural construction. These projects, marked by iconic achievements such as the protection of the Liangzhu ruins, the compilation of A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, the comprehensive protection of West Lake, and the protection of the Grand Canal, were designed across multiple dimensions including value concepts, goal orientation, organizational methods, construction carriers, support systems, and management mechanisms. He also paid close attention to various major cultural projects led by the “Eight Major Projects” aimed at accelerating the development of a major cultural province. Through dual innovations in theory and practice, he opened a brand-new space and effective path for Zhejiang’s contemporary culture, providing a highly beneficial methodological reference for advancing cultural construction today.
I. Focusing on the Top-Level Design of Cultural Projects, Proposing to “Take the Implementation of the ‘Eight Major Projects’ of Cultural Construction as the Lead”
As the “soft power” constituting comprehensive competitiveness, the key to the specific construction process of culture lies in “substance.” It requires not only solid content but, more importantly, concrete vehicles for implementation. The connotation of a cultural project includes looking at the overall domestic and international situation of the era, evaluating history, current conditions, and future trends, and engaging in holistic planning and top-level design. Comrade Xi Jinping viewed cultural construction from a global perspective, emphasizing the need to “strive to enhance the ability to master the overall situation, plan for one area with the whole in mind, and plan for major events by grasping the general trend.” In his view, “cultural elements are the core elements of comprehensive competitiveness, and cultural resources are important resources for economic and social development.” Under Comrade Xi Jinping’s strategic planning and top-level design, Zhejiang focused on implementing the “Eight Major Projects”: the Civilized Quality Project, the Fine Cultural Works Project, the Cultural Research Project, the Cultural Protection Project, the Cultural Industry Promotion Project, the Cultural Stronghold Project, the Cultural Communication Project, and the Cultural Talent Project.
Comrade Xi Jinping designed a logically rigorous systemic framework for these and provided a clear explanation: “Starting from the fundamental goal of realizing a major cultural province and focusing on promoting all-around human development and overall social progress, we designed the Civilized Quality Project. Starting from strengthening the content construction of a major cultural province and focusing on creating a prosperous situation where fine works emerge in succession and talents come forth in large numbers, we designed the Fine Cultural Works Project, Cultural Research Project, Cultural Industry Promotion Project, Cultural Talent Project, and Cultural Protection Project. Starting from consolidating the foundation of a major cultural province and focusing on strengthening grassroots cultural facilities and cultural communication channels, we designed the Cultural Stronghold Project and Cultural Communication Project.” This supported the grand edifice of building Zhejiang into a major cultural province with a comprehensive, clear, and solid structure of “four beams and eight pillars” [1].
In specific work, Comrade Xi Jinping similarly attached great importance to strengthening top-level design and holistic planning, focusing on the interconnectedness, systematic nature, and synergy of various tasks. The “Eight Major Projects” represent a complex process of collaborative activities carried out within a specific timeframe. Planning guidance and top-level design are the keys to “planning for one area with the whole in mind,” determining the purpose, scale, volume, resources, and path of the projects, as well as the various types of supporting structures required. In the Decision of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee on Accelerating the Construction of a Major Cultural Province, “formulating development plans” was listed as a powerful guarantee for accelerating the construction of a major cultural province. It explicitly required the formulation and improvement of implementation opinions for the “Eight Major Projects” and the improvement of the “Four Ones Plan” [2] supporting measures—consisting of building a batch of key cultural facilities, developing a batch of key cultural industries, nurturing a batch of key industrial clusters, and strengthening a batch of key cultural enterprises. All regions and departments were required to formulate specific implementation opinions based on reality to further clarify the goals, tasks, and requirements of cultural development.
II. Focusing on the Tangible Support of Cultural Projects, Proposing to “Provide Concrete Grips and Substantial Measures for the Construction of a Major Cultural Province”
In the eyes of some local leading officials, cultural construction seemed somewhat “insubstantial” compared to economic or social construction. Facing this phenomenon in the perception of cultural undertakings, Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized at a plenary meeting of the Zhejiang Cultural Research Project Steering Committee on August 31, 2005, that we must “take projects as the carrier, clarify the goals, tasks, and main grips for propaganda and cultural work over the next five years, and systematically and scientifically promote the construction of a major cultural province, so that the construction of a major cultural province has concrete grips and substantial measures.” This effectively treated the acceleration of the cultural province’s construction as an objective necessity for implementing the requirement to “be in the forefront of practical work.”
In making decisions and laying out every cultural project, Comrade Xi Jinping adhered to a problem-oriented approach, focusing on using tangible grips to solve realistic difficulties. For example, the reason for implementing the Cultural Research Project was that “from a higher requirement, our province’s philosophy and social sciences still lack academic brands with major national influence; research on Zhejiang’s history and culture still suffers from weaknesses such as being relatively scattered, uneven, and lacking in overall systematicity, which is still some distance from the goal of building a major cultural province.” It was necessary to use the Cultural Research Project to further strengthen the overall planning of philosophy and social science research, integrate resources, engage in systematic development, and promote the establishment of management systems and working mechanisms that conform to the laws of philosophy and social science, thereby driving Zhejiang’s research to a higher scale and grade. To this end, Comrade Xi Jinping personally served as the Chairman of the Cultural Research Project Steering Committee, convened committee meetings, personally proposed the project framework of “Today, Antiquity, People, and Culture” [3], and wrote the general preface for the project’s library of results, setting the direction and laying the foundation for its smooth implementation.
III. Focusing on the Coordination of Forces for Cultural Projects, Proposing the Need for “All Regions and Departments to Attach Great Importance, Fulfill Their Respective Duties, and Pool Wisdom and Strength to Form a Synergy for Overall Advancement”
As carriers of large-scale comprehensive cultural construction, cultural projects are of great significance, involve heavy tasks, and have long timelines. They require the coordination of various resources and forces to achieve linkage and synergy. On one hand, this requires interaction and cooperation across different regions, departments, and fields; on the other hand, it requires support from policy systems, institutional arrangements, financial backing, and other mechanisms. Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized that the “Eight Major Projects” constitute a unified deployment for the entire province’s cultural construction, while also serving as a plan and guide for each region and department. This necessitates that all parties attach great importance, perform their duties, and pool wisdom to form a synergy. He also required “both grasping the key work of cultural construction and highlighting the weak links that need to be addressed urgently now and in the future, ensuring they are interconnected and mutually reinforcing to form an organic whole.”
During the specific implementation of the “Eight Major Projects,” Comrade Xi Jinping made practical deployments and coordinated arrangements for the collective action of all regions and departments: “The People’s Congress must strengthen legislation and legal supervision related to the construction of a major cultural province. The government and relevant departments should strengthen specific guidance and management of various tasks. The Political Consultative Conference should actively leverage its advantages of wide contacts and intellectual density to perform its functions of participating in and discussing state affairs and offering advice. The Party committee’s propaganda departments must play a full role in guiding and coordinating the acceleration of the cultural province’s construction. Mass organizations such as trade unions, the Youth League, and women’s federations, as well as grassroots cultural groups, should actively organize and carry out diverse and colorful mass cultural activities.” Regarding the policy system, Comrade Xi Jinping required a thorough review of various national and provincial policies on cultural work to further improve the supporting policies for cultural system reform and various social undertaking reforms. He insisted on the earnest implementation of policies involving public finance investment, tax incentives, financing and investment, labor and social security, and personnel systems, while advancing cultural legislation to provide a powerful guarantee for the “Eight Major Projects” by any means necessary.
IV. Focusing on Institutional Guarantees for Cultural Projects, Proposing to Form a “Cultural Management System and Operating Mechanism that Promotes Cultural Innovation and Produces More Fine Works and Talents”
The effective landing, smooth implementation, and final completion of cultural projects require that the improvement of management systems and operating mechanisms be maintained throughout as a necessary guarantee and daily grip. Comrade Xi Jinping made specific deployments regarding management systems and operating mechanisms on multiple occasions. At a symposium on cultural system reform and the construction of a major cultural province, he requested the “gradual establishment of a cultural management system and operating mechanism conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of cultural workers, promoting cultural innovation, and producing more fine works and talents.” Regarding the clarification of responsibilities, tasks, and measures, he required all regions and departments to formulate specific implementation opinions, assign project responsibilities, break down tasks, and clarify responsible departments, persons, implementation steps, and timetables. This included incorporating the goals and tasks of accelerating the construction of a major cultural province into the term-of-office goal examinations for Party committees and governments at all levels. It also involved the comprehensive use of legal, economic, and administrative means to strengthen macro-management and industry supervision, effectively protect intellectual property rights, strengthen the supervision of state-owned cultural assets, and establish various index systems and performance evaluation systems.
Taking the Cultural Research Project as an example, from its inception, a collaborative mechanism was formed: a steering committee composed of provincial leaders, Zhejiang University, relevant provincial units, and city leaders was responsible for reviewing plans and guiding implementation; cities and counties established leadership groups to guide local implementation; and the Provincial Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences was responsible for organizing experts to carry out research. From project application, expert review, signing, and proposal defense to mid-term inspections, final audits, and publication of results, corresponding management systems and operating mechanisms were introduced to ensure the solid progress of the project and the academic quality of research results. To date, three phases of the project have been implemented, with more than 10,000 social science experts and scholars from over 290 units at home and abroad participating. It is expected to result in over 6,160 academic monographs, with more than 3,900 already published. The Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings project, after nearly 20 years of continuous advancement, has become a monument of Chinese cultural and artistic research with world-class influence.
V. Focusing on the Continuous Deepening of Cultural Projects, Proposing to “Hold Firm to the Goals and Persist Task by Task, Term by Term”
The outlook on performance [4] that “success does not have to be mine” and “drawing one blueprint to the end” has been emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping many times. In his report to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 11th provincial Party committee, Comrade Xi Jinping provided a profound discourse on work decision-making and deployment: “The decisions and deployments made by the provincial Party committee strive to reflect both the inheritance and continuity of work, as well as its pioneering and creative nature. These decisions and deployments are an organic whole, interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and complementary. Some have been fully launched and have seen initial results; some have been planned and are being implemented; others still require the formulation of policies and improvement of measures. Implementing these decisions and deployments is both a matter of realistic urgency and a long-term task. We must hold firm to our goals and persist task by task, term by term.”
Continuously advancing cultural construction with cultural projects as the carrier is a concrete practice and reflection of this outlook on performance, allowing cultural undertakings to maintain continuity and stability. As an organic whole that is “interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and complementary,” cultural projects possess immense space for continuity, pioneering, and creativity. This is precisely the original intention and purpose of choosing cultural projects as the carrier for advancing cultural construction. At the plenary meeting of the Zhejiang Cultural Research Project Steering Committee, Comrade Xi Jinping specifically pointed out: “The Cultural Research Project lasts a long time; most research results will be completed during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, and the project will continue during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period.” In 2005, at the start of the project, a proposal to compile and publish Song dynasty paintings held by the Palace Museums on both sides of the Strait was submitted to Comrade Xi Jinping. He attached great importance to this, specifically instructing: “This concept is excellent and worth the effort.” Since then, the Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, starting with the Complete Collection of Song Paintings, began a compilation process lasting nearly 20 years. As a massive national-level cultural construction project bridging ancient and modern times and spanning China and the world, it has involved long durations, numerous personnel, and wide-ranging institutions. It has always adhered to an engineering-style organizational method to form a synergy, an engineering-style operating mechanism to promote teamwork, an engineering-style management model to advance project progress, and an engineering-style project platform to provide fundamental guarantees. It is a model of implementing major projects through engineering methods and achieving significant results. A key point therein is that, under the constant care and guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the project has persisted in providing fundamental guarantees through an engineering-style platform, anchoring goals, planning systematically, advancing steadily, and persisting over the long term.
Zhejiang’s cultural construction, utilizing cultural projects as vehicles, has achieved abundant practical results. For instance, regarding cultural expenditures, according to the Statistical Table of Provincial Fiscal Cultural Expenditures from 2003 to 2022 by the Department of Finance of Zhejiang Province, spending stood at 2.765 billion yuan in 2003 and rose to 5.660 billion yuan by 2007. In 2005, the province’s total cultural investment was basically equal to the total investment during the entire five-year period of the Ninth Five-Year Plan [5]. Furthermore, regarding the overall layout, each facet of the "Eight Major Projects" for cultural construction possesses both a qualitative determinacy and its own rich connotations, while simultaneously being interconnected, interdependent, and interacting with one another. Through its comprehensive and systematic holistic structure, it has established a model for building socialist culture at the provincial level and constructed a broad provincial framework for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new period.
General Secretary Xi Jinping’s systematic reflections and important expositions on cultural projects during his tenure in Zhejiang, along with the achievements and experiences formed through the rich practice of implementing the "Eight Major Projects," demonstrate a problem-oriented consciousness [6] in exploring the objective laws governing socialist cultural construction. They embody the intellectual quality of "illuminating the substance and attaining its utility, while integrating substance and utility" [7], condense the essential characteristics of cultural projects, and reveal the laws of advancing cultural construction through such projects. This has formed a theoretical and practical modality characterized by a unique field, innovative concepts, rich elements, and distinct features. Within this, there is not only theoretical innovation consisting of novel perspectives, incisive expositions, and self-contained systems, but also practical innovation in terms of macro-layout, resource coordination, and orderly advancement. This fully reflects Comrade Xi Jinping’s systematic thinking, holistic perspective, forward-looking vision, and practical character. It also reflects his active exploration of the laws of cultural development that meet the needs of the times from the perspective of project-based construction, providing a highly important reference for the systematic planning and solid promotion of major cultural construction projects in the New Era since the 18th National Congress of the CPC.
This also offers profound enlightenment for us: to prospertously develop socialist culture, we must place cultural construction in a strategic position within the overall situation, "holding high the banner and determining the direction" [8] while planning the overall layout. At the same time, we must firmly grasp the historical trajectory, internal logic, and realistic demands of cultural development, anchoring ourselves to established strategic goals. We must leverage the overall leading role of major cultural projects in cultural construction, "doing solid work with practical action" [9] and advancing steadily. We must adhere to the Marxist standpoint, viewpoint, and method, using innovative concepts and an awareness of transformation to gain insight into the changes of the times and explore the laws of cultural development. We must scientifically evaluate the internal correlation and management effectiveness between modern project management methods and cultural construction, expanding new methods and spaces for cultural construction through project-oriented thinking.
Cultural projects represent the systematic construction of culture carried out in an organized manner. We must firmly grasp the socialist institutional advantage of "concentrating resources to accomplish major undertakings" [10], strengthen unified leadership, and attach importance to overall coordination. Centering on value goals, planning regulations, construction content, organizational methods, platforms and carriers, and the tempo of progress, we must form a powerful synergy for integrated advancement. Following the law that cultural work requires long-term accumulation and is difficult to achieve overnight, we must view cultural construction as a long-term undertaking, persisting over the long term through iterative upgrades and orderly advancement—carrying a single blueprint to the end [11]. We must base our efforts on satisfying the cultural rights and interests of the broadest masses of the people, insisting that the production of more results—especially high-quality results—serves as the standard for the implementation and acceptance of cultural projects. We must always put social benefits first, achieving the optimal integration of social and economic benefits, continuously strengthening the spiritual power of the people, and fortifying the cultural foundation for building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.
(The author’s affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era) Source: People's Daily, July 30, 2025, Page 9 Online Editor: Tongxin