Lan Hanlin and Zhong Shuai: "Build a Team of Publicity and Ideological Workers with Strong Political Integrity, Professional Competence, Strict Discipline, and Rectitude"
The core of governance lies in securing the right people. In carrying out publicity, ideological, and cultural work, talent is the foundation and the workforce is the key. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping attached great importance to the development of the publicity, ideological, and cultural workforce, delivering a series of important expositions. He emphasized that "establishing a publicity and ideological workforce that is politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright in conduct is an important guarantee for doing publicity and ideological work well." He proposed a series of important viewpoints and judgments regarding the strengthening of this workforce and made a series of major decisions and deployments. This deepened the systematic understanding of the laws governing the development of the publicity, ideological, and cultural workforce, and promoted a strong atmosphere of cherishing, fully trusting, and giving a free hand to the use of talent. Retracing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s reflections and practices regarding workforce development during his time in Zhejiang is of great significance for our deep study and realization of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. It guides us in striving to build a publicity, ideological, and cultural workforce that is politically sound, highly capable, realistic, innovative, and able to win battles, thereby continuously opening new horizons for publicity, ideological, and cultural work in the New Era.
I. Clearly proposing to "uphold the principle of the Party managing cadres to ensure that the leadership of publicity and ideological work is firmly held in the hands of those loyal to the Party and the people," integrating Party leadership into every aspect and the entire process of workforce development.
Integrating Party leadership into every aspect and the entire process of the publicity, ideological, and cultural workforce is the organizational guarantee for promoting the high-quality development of these undertakings. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping upheld and implemented the important principles and systems of the Party managing cadres [1] and the Party managing talent, which were formed through long-term practice. He took upholding Party leadership as the fundamental baseline for workforce development. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: "Party committees at all levels, especially the primary responsible comrades, must take charge of the overall situation, earnestly fulfill their political responsibilities, attach great importance to publicity and ideological work, and firmly grasp the leadership and initiative in this work. Publicity and ideological work must be included on the important agenda; the dynamics of social thought must be understood in a timely manner; and major global, strategic, and forward-looking issues concerning the overall situation of publicity and ideological work must be earnestly studied." If Party leadership over publicity, ideological, and cultural work is relaxed—and if the tools of publicity are not held by genuine Marxists or if publicity and guidance are not conducted according to the will and interests of the Party and the people—serious harm and massive losses will ensue. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: "Leading cadres at all levels must earnestly study the Party's cultural policies and principles, grasp the characteristics and laws of cultural development under the socialist market economy system, conduct deep investigations and research, dare to explore and innovate, continuously enhance their capability to lead cultural work, and firmly grasp the initiative of the Party's leadership over cultural construction." Under his impetus, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee improved and perfected a leadership system and working mechanism characterized by "one core," "three Party groups," and "several sectors" [2], further standardizing the Party committee's leadership over publicity, ideological, and cultural work and workforce development within the overall framework. Under the unified leadership and deployment of the Party Central Committee, Zhejiang extensively carried out ideological education activities, guiding members across the publicity, ideological, and cultural fronts to continuously enhance their political and active consciousness in implementing the Party's basic theory, basic line, basic program, and basic experience [3]. Starting in 2005, Zhejiang established Party Committee Talent Work Leading Groups at the provincial, municipal, and county levels. It also established a target responsibility system for talent work for municipal and county Party and government leaders as a specific evaluation metric, institutionally guaranteeing the Party's leadership over the publicity, ideological, and cultural workforce.
II. Clearly proposing to "fully tap the potential of talent as the primary resource," emphasizing that "for culture to develop, high-quality works are the hallmark and talent is the key," and defining the status and role of the workforce under new circumstances.
In doing publicity, ideological, and cultural work well in the New Era, innovation is the primary driver and talent is the primary resource. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "in the current era, competition in economic and social development is, in the final analysis, a competition for talent," highlighting the strategic position and key role of cultural talent. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: "Whoever possesses talent possesses competitiveness. Whoever can transform the advantage in talent into advantages in knowledge, technology, and industry will be able to win the initiative in competition." To promote social progress and improve the degree of social civilization, we must attach importance to the cultivation of talent in all areas: "We must both cultivate scientific and technological innovation talent and focus on cultivating specialized talent in various fields such as education, radio and television, news and publishing, sports and health, and culture and the arts." He explicitly stated that "the workforce development and talent cultivation in philosophy and social sciences are an important component of implementing the strategy of strengthening the nation through talent." He further pointed out: "With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people, and the comprehensive advancement of building a major cultural province [4], there is an urgent need for us to continuously provide more rich and colorful high-quality works and create a batch of 'landmark spiritual and cultural buildings' that can be passed down to future generations and remain fresh over time. There is an urgent need to create a high-quality journalism and arts workforce and cultivate a group of masters and giants who have influence across the country and even the world." Comrade Xi Jinping proposed to "give full play to the foundational, strategic, and decisive role of human resource development in economic and social development," noting that the publicity and ideological workforce shoulders the special responsibility of carrying forward and cultivating the national spirit and should "become a model for firmly grasping the forward direction of advanced culture." He warmly encouraged "comrades on Zhejiang’s publicity and cultural front to carry forward the Zhejiang Spirit [5] in various ways, interpreting Zhejiang through theory, news, literature, and art." Deeply grasping the dialectical relationship between "strengthening the province through talent" and "becoming a major cultural province," Comrade Xi Jinping personally presided over the first Provincial Talent Work Conference and pushed for the issuance of the Decision on Vigorously Implementing the Strategy of Strengthening the Province Through Talent. He proposed to "earnestly study and formulate the talent strategy, talent planning, and talent policies for the provincial publicity and ideological front," clarifying the guiding principles, goals, tasks, key focus areas, and policy measures for cultural workforce development, guiding the talent to dedicate more and better spiritual food to the people and shoulder their historical responsibility in promoting the construction of a major cultural province.
III. Clearly proposing to "establish a publicity and ideological workforce that is politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright in conduct," defining the basic requirements for workforce development.
The special importance of the Party's publicity, ideological, and cultural work determines that the front shoulders an arduous mission and heavy responsibilities, thus requiring a high-quality cadre and talent workforce. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping implemented the Party Central Committee's instructions on focusing on the construction of a high-quality publicity and ideological workforce, clearly applying the basic requirements of being "politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright in conduct" to all fields of Zhejiang's publicity and ideological front. Politically, he proposed "to always persist in emphasizing politics, effectively enhance political consciousness, awareness of the overall situation, and sense of responsibility; enhance political discernment and sensitivity; and enhance the ability to identify and resist various erroneous ideological trends, maintaining a clear head at all times in the face of any complex and shifting situation, and always consciously remaining aligned with the Party Central Committee in thought and politics." Professionally, he proposed that comrades on the publicity and ideological front "must strengthen theoretical study, professional study, and the study of other new knowledge," and "continuously improve their ideological and theoretical level and practical work ability." They must value investigation and research, go deep into reality, the grassroots, and the masses to understand the true situation and master first-hand materials, thereby enhancing the relevance, operationality, and effectiveness of publicity and ideological work. In terms of discipline, he proposed "to further strengthen the construction of Party style and clean government [6] on our province’s publicity and ideological front, persisting in the combination of education, management, and supervision," and "guiding the broad masses of cadres to consciously achieve integrity and self-discipline, remain indifferent to fame and wealth, be willing to contribute, and strive to mold a good image for publicity and ideological work cadres." Regarding conduct, he proposed "to earnestly grasp the improvement of the conduct of the publicity and ideological workforce, vigorously advocate a work style of seeking practical results on the publicity system, carry forward the Marxist style of study that integrates theory with practice, and emphasize reality, telling the truth, doing practical deeds, and seeking actual results." This series of important expositions pointed out the direction for the growth and success of the broad masses of publicity, ideological, and cultural workers. Centering on strengthening the workforce in various fields, Comrade Xi Jinping convened a series of important meetings and delivered several important speeches. He noted: "To flourish the news and arts cause and promote our socialist advanced culture, we must possess a high-quality army of news and arts talent that is politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright in conduct." He pointed out: "We must continuously strengthen our own development and strive to cultivate and create a publicity and ideological cadre workforce that is politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright." He emphasized that universities must "act according to the requirements of being politically strong, professionally proficient, disciplined, and upright, earnestly strengthening workforce development to provide a strong organizational guarantee for the ideological and political education of college students." These expositions applied the general goals and requirements for workforce development to various fields such as theory, journalism, and the arts, providing an important baseline for the province’s development in this area.
IV. Clearly proposing to "successfully build leadership teams at all levels on the publicity and ideological front" and "replenish leadership teams at all levels with outstanding young cadres who are familiar with ideological work and possess both political integrity and professional competence," providing a strong organizational guarantee for work under new circumstances.
A strong leadership team and a high-quality talent workforce are important prerequisites for ensuring that leadership remains firmly in the hands of those loyal to the Party and the people, and for ensuring that publicity, ideological, and cultural work develops along the correct path. During his time in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping effectively strengthened the selection, appointment, and management of cadres in these fields, making the selection and staffing of leadership teams at all levels the key to workforce development. He pointed out: "We must strengthen the leadership teams of news units, selecting cadres who are politically reliable, capable in work, and have a solid work style." He emphasized: "Leaders at all levels and the broad masses of Party member cadres in the news and arts circles must take the lead in adhering to the fine style of study that integrates theory with practice; take the lead in studying, lecturing, and practicing; continuously deepen their understanding of the importance of building advanced culture; and research and grasp the laws of doing news and arts work well under new circumstances, continuously improving the level of leading and managing such work under market economy conditions." He noted: "We must strengthen the leadership teams of philosophy and social science management and research institutions, strengthen leadership over the Social Sciences Federation, and appoint comrades who are loyal to Marxism and familiar with philosophy and social sciences to leadership positions." These expositions made specific and targeted requirements for leadership development across various systems on the publicity, ideological, and cultural front. Furthermore, he required members of leadership teams at all levels to effectively play their roles: "They must keep a strict watch over politics, policy, orientation, hot-button issues, public opinion supervision, the tone of publicity, media image, management, and technology. They must earnestly shoulder leadership responsibilities, command from the front at critical moments, personally review and approve important manuscripts, and personally oversee important positions, truly achieving the responsibility of defending one's territory [7]." Around the requirements of "improving quality, optimizing structure, improving conduct, and strengthening unity" proposed at the 16th National Congress of the CPC, Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must successfully build leadership teams at all levels in the publicity system, replenishing them with outstanding young cadres who are loyal to the Party's cause, possess Marxist theoretical cultivation, and have a strong sense of career and responsibility. This will provide a strong organizational guarantee for publicity and ideological work in the new period, ensuring that new talents emerge and the cause flourishes." He also required Party committees at all levels to care for comrades on the front politically and in their daily lives, creating the necessary working conditions and environment for them to work boldly and freely. Starting from 2003, Zhejiang continuously issued implementation opinions on large-scale cadre education and training, strengthening the training of Party members and cadres, including those in the ideological field. It took the lead nationwide in piloting comprehensive evaluation work for leadership teams and cadres, focusing on the role of cadre evaluation as a "conductor's baton" [8] to lead cadres to resolutely fulfill their duty of defending their territory and firmly guarding the ideological front.
V. Clearly proposing to "cultivate 'Five Groups' of top-notch talent in theory, journalism, arts, publishing, cultural management, and cultural technology," building a powerful cultural "Zhejiang Army."
Investment in talent cultivation yields the highest returns, while the waste of human resources constitutes the greatest waste. Comrade Xi Jinping proposed that talent is the most precious and important strategic resource. Building upon the implementation of the National Cultural Masters and the "Four Batches" [9] Talent Project, he incorporated cultural management and cultural science and technology talent into its scope, creatively implementing Zhejiang’s "Five Batches" Talent Project. In advancing this work, he emphasized "unified planning and categorized guidance." Regarding the philosophy and social sciences contingent, he proposed "striving to forge a group of nationally and internationally renowned experts and scholars armed with Marxism who are well-known throughout the province; forging a group of academic leaders based in Zhejiang who face the world, possess solid theoretical foundations, and dare to pioneer and innovate; and forging a group of young theoretical backbones who are in the prime of their lives, possess good political and professional qualities, and are determined to make progress." Regarding the press contingent, he placed its construction in a prominent position, proposing to cultivate "a group of famous journalists, editors, and presenters loved by the masses," who "firmly serve as the throat and tongue [10] of the Party and the people, firmly serve as the engineers of the human soul [11], and firmly serve as the representatives, creators, and disseminators of advanced culture." Regarding the publishing contingent, he proposed that "under the premise of ensuring the correct publishing orientation, we must transform operating mechanisms, adjust industrial structures, optimize resource allocation, strengthen internal management, and establish modern publishing, production, and marketing systems to make the publishing industry bigger and stronger," while striving to cultivate a group of publishing experts proficient in professional knowledge. Regarding the cultural management contingent, he proposed vigorously developing cultural undertakings and cultural industries, cultivating a group of "cultural management experts who understand both the laws of cultural development and the laws of market operation." Comrade Xi Jinping personally presided over the Eighth Plenary Session of the 11th Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the CPC, making the strategic deployment to vigorously implement the "Eight Major Projects" of cultural construction. Among these, the Cultural Talent Project proposed "focusing on forging a group of cultural celebrities and masters with significant influence at home and abroad within the cultural sphere, and cultivating 'Five Batches' of talent in theory, press, publishing, literature and art, and cultural management. Over a period of ten years, approximately 300 outstanding 'Five Batches' talents with significant influence will be selected and cultivated," thereby creating a vivid situation where talents in various fields and aspects of the publicity, ideological, and cultural fronts advance together and flourish.
VI. Clearly proposing to "form a vibrant mechanism for selecting and appointing personnel so that outstanding talents emerge," and creating a sound ecosystem where "talents come forth in large numbers, everyone puts their talents to best use, and every talent is fully utilized" [12].
Creating an environment that recognizes, loves, respects, and utilizes talent is the social condition for successfully performing talent work. During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping focused on further leveraging Zhejiang’s humanistic advantages, actively promoting the strategies of "invigorating the province through science and education" and "strengthening the province through talent." Centering closely on the various links of cultivating and selecting cultural talent, he earnestly researched and formulated systems and mechanisms for the publicity and ideological front. Comrade Xi Jinping proposed: "We must deepen the reform of the cadre and personnel system, form a vibrant mechanism for selecting and appointing personnel so that outstanding talents emerge, and boldly select those with developmental potential without overestimating qualifications [13]. We must implement multi-level, multi-channel, and multi-category talent cultivation plans, focusing on cultivating a group of composite talents who are familiar with ideological work, understand business operations, and are skilled in management, creating a sound situation on the publicity and ideological front where talents emerge in large numbers and everyone puts their talents to best use." He proposed establishing and improving talent cultivation mechanisms, formulating and implementing cultural talent cultivation plans, planning and constructing higher education zones, vigorously developing higher education, innovating talent cultivation methods, and continuously widening the channels for talent cultivation. He proposed establishing and improving talent selection mechanisms, standardizing selection work, and refining talent evaluation standards—establishing an English-style evaluation indicator system for various talents centered on performance and composed of elements such as character, knowledge, and ability, to promote the emergence of outstanding talent. He proposed establishing and improving talent utilization mechanisms, establishing the concept that "one need not possess talent to utilize it" [14], promoting the rational flow of talent, breaking down the ownership of talent by units, departments, and regions, and realizing the socialization of human resources. He proposed establishing and improving talent management mechanisms, transforming the concept of "managing people" into a concept of service, strengthening the unified management of human resources, overcoming defects such as the overstepping, displacement, or absence [15] of roles in human resource management, and improving the evaluation and appointment system for professional and technical positions as well as distribution incentive mechanisms. Under the leadership and impetus of Comrade Xi Jinping, Zhejiang issued a series of breakthrough policies such as the Measures for the Management of Special Grade Experts (Trial), the Implementation Measures for Promoting the Flexible Flow of Talent, and Several Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of High-Level Professional and Technical Talent Contingents. These covered the recruitment and cultivation of talent in the cultural field and actively created "six environments" conducive to the emergence of talent: public opinion, humanism, government services, policy, the legal system, and living conditions, striving to build Zhejiang into a place where cultural talents emerge and converge.
During his tenure in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward a series of important expositions on the construction of the publicity, ideological, and cultural contingents at the provincial level, profoundly answering a series of theoretical and practical questions such as what kind of cultural talents to cultivate and how to cultivate them. This systemic thinking on the construction of the publicity, ideological, and cultural contingents has been continuously inherited, developed, enriched, and elevated in practice, deepening our understanding of the laws governing the development of the cultural talent cause. It offers profound enlightenment: To uphold the Party’s leadership over culture, the key lies in managing and utilizing the work force well, strengthening the Party’s political leadership over the publicity, ideological, and cultural contingents, and ensuring that these workers always maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in terms of political stance, direction, principles, and path. Whether the effectiveness of publicity, ideological, and cultural work is good depends on whether the working capacity of the cultural talent contingent is strong; the construction of these contingents must be planned and advanced within the context of the overall situation and major trends. Only through categorized guidance and precise measures can talent resources be accurately matched with development paths. We must adapt to the temporal characteristics and laws of publicity, ideological, and cultural work, attaching importance to both the talent for cultural content production and creation and the role of cultural management talent, while including both cultural talent within the state system and private or folk cultural talent in the systemic project of cultural talent to form an overall advantage. We must respect the laws of talent growth, improve systems and mechanisms that conform to the characteristics of the cultural field, and recruit and cultivate high-level cultural talent through the highest-quality cultural talent ecosystem. We must persist in taking the people as the center in promoting the construction of the publicity, ideological, and cultural contingents, continuously improving the quality of the contingents while satisfying the spiritual and cultural needs of the masses.