Zhan Chengfu: Establishing and Practicing a Correct Outlook on Political Performance

Since the 18th Party Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important discourses surrounding the establishment and practice of a correct outlook on performance ^[1], emphasizing that "to undertake ventures and start businesses, one must establish a correct outlook on performance," and "firmly establish an outlook on performance that brings benefits to the people." A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on July 24 pointed out: "We must take the thematic education on the study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as an opportunity to educate and guide the vast number of Party members and cadres to firmly establish a correct outlook on performance." The vast number of Party members and cadres must deeply study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses on establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance, and strive to create actual achievements on the new journey that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.

Deeply understand the major significance of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance

An outlook on performance is the manifestation of a Party member or cadre's worldview, outlook on life, and values—as well as their outlooks on power, status, interests, and career—within the process of undertaking ventures and starting businesses. The Communist Party of China is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics; whether a Party member or cadre's outlook on performance is correct or not directly relates to the development of the cause of the Party and the people.

During his period of work in Zhengding, Hebei, Comrade Xi Jinping required that "the work of every department, every unit, and every Party member must be subordinate to and serve the overall situation of national construction and reform." During his period of work in Fujian, he advocated the "dripping water wears through stone" ^[2] spirit and the consciousness of "weak birds flying first" ^[3]; he neither engaged in "lighting three fires" ^[4] upon taking office, nor did he "fish for three days and dry the nets for two" ^[5]. During his period of work in Zhejiang, he emphasized that "the fundamental purpose of building a performance record is to seek interests for the people," that one must "be willing to do work that lays the groundwork," and "accumulate small victories into a great victory." During his period of work in Shanghai, he required cadres at all levels to always persist in governing for the people, stating, "one must do more of what the masses urgently need, more of what benefits the masses, more of what lays a foundation, and more of what plays a role in the long term."

As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the development of the Party and state's cause has placed new and higher requirements on Party members and cadres for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Facing the arduous and heavy tasks of reform, development, and stability, leading bodies and leading cadres at all levels must follow the requirements of the Central Committee, keep in mind that 'empty talk harms the nation, while hard work prospers the country' ^[6], be proactive, strive for progress, and produce actual achievements that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history"; "one must establish a correct outlook on performance, doing more things that lay a foundation and benefit the long term"; and "one must carry forward the style of seeking truth from facts and doing solid work, take responsibility with the spirit of driving nails ^[7], establish the realm of 'success does not have to lie with me' ^[8], doing things one by one, and working year after year." Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the vast majority of Party members and cadres have established and practiced a correct outlook on performance, focusing on central tasks with solid work. They completed the historical tasks of poverty alleviation and the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society, created the miracle of a populous nation successfully emerging from a pandemic in the history of human civilization, promoted the continuous improvement of balance, coordination, and inclusiveness in development, and achieved new results in China's high-quality development.

The 20th Party Congress drew a grand blueprint for comprehensively building a modern socialist powerhouse and comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "One must enhance the sense of the overall situation, firmly establish the idea of the whole country as a single chessboard ^[9], persist in calculating the 'big account' and the 'long-term account,' and not play with 'small abacuses' or engage in 'petty cleverness' ^[10], but rather integrate the work of regions and departments into the overall situation of the Party and state's cause"; "one must adapt to local conditions and the timing, closely combine work with respective realities, use one's brains, take initiative and bold action, carry out work creatively, and truly ensure the CPC Central Committee's decisions and deployments take root and yield results." At the same time, addressing the situation where some cadres' outlook on performance has deviated, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Only with strong Party spirit and the discarding of selfish tactical considerations can we guarantee that the outlook on performance does not deviate"; "everyone must keep in mind that the purpose of creating achievements is to seek interests for the people, truly putting one's mind and energy into undertaking ventures and starting businesses for the Party and the people." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses have strong practical relevance and operational guidance. We must deeply grasp the decisive significance of the Two Establishments and resolutely achieve the Two Upholds, effectively implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses on establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance.

Comprehensively grasp the rich connotations of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance, one must "properly resolve the questions of for whom the performance is established, what kind of performance is established, and what to rely on to establish performance." Studying General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses, we deeply realize that in establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance, Party spirit plays the decisive role. When Party members and cadres do things and carry out work, they must ensure it is beneficial to the country and the people, meeting both the immediate and long-term interests of the country and the people, and continuously promoting economic and social development, national prosperity, and the happiness of the people.

Properly resolve the question of "for whom the performance is established." This concerns for whom one governs, for whom one uses power, and for whom one seeks interests. The people are the deepest foundation and the greatest source of confidence for our Party's governance. During his period of work in Ningde, Fujian, Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized: "The essence of being an official lies in serving a term and benefiting a region"; "Being an 'official' of the Communist Party has only one purpose, which is to benefit the people." During his period of work in Zhejiang, he emphasized: "At all times and under all circumstances, one must always insist on putting the fundamental interests of the broadest mass of the people in the first place, and consciously use the fundamental interests of the broadest mass of the people to test one's own work and performance." Since the 18th Party Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "The Communist Party is there to do things for the people, to make the lives of the people better day by day and better year by year." We must keep in mind the fundamental question of what the Communist Party of China is and what it aims to do, taking the promotion of the people's well-being as the most important performance, establishing a correct outlook on power, performance, and career, not desiring vanity, not engaging in pragmatically empty work, and not seeking empty fame, so as to truly "be an official for a term and benefit a region."

Properly resolve the question of "what kind of performance is established." This concerns the standards for testing performance. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "One must do both practical things that the common elderly people can see, touch, and benefit from, as well as good things that lay the groundwork and benefit the long term for future generations; one must perform both 'manifest merit' ^[11] and 'latent merit,' not fixating on personal fame, but pursuing the good reputation among the masses and the true evaluation that remains after history has settled." Good and practical things "must be measured from the pressing needs of the masses; they cannot be based on subjective dogmatism, nor can they be simplified or one-sided." "Supporting economic development and helping the masses become wealthy are good and practical things; promoting social righteousness, striking at 'black sheep' ^[12], enriching the amateur cultural life of the masses, and creating a good social environment are also good and practical things; solving the hardships of the masses in food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and their needs regarding birth, age, illness, and death, are good and practical things; even small matters like the masses in remote and desolate mountains being unable to buy light bulbs, soap, or thread and needles—if these receive our concern and are resolved, they are also good and practical things." This enlightens us that establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance requires adhering to a practical perspective, a mass perspective, and a historical perspective.

Properly resolve the question of "what to rely on to establish performance." This concerns the path to achieving performance. First, rely on loyalty to the Party. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "All comrades of the Party must strengthen their sense of the Party and always put the Party in the highest position in their hearts." One must resolutely respond to what the CPC Central Committee advocates, resolutely carry out what the CPC Central Committee decides, and resolutely prohibit what the CPC Central Committee forbids. Second, rely on having a clear understanding of the "greatest concerns of the nation" ^[13]. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that one must "pay attention to what the CPC Central Committee is concerned about and what it emphasizes, and deeply comprehend what the most important interests of the Party and the state are and what positions need to be most firmly maintained." All work must take the implementation of the CPC Central Committee's decisions and deployments as a prerequisite, being adept at integrating the work of regions and departments into the "great chessboard" of the Party and state's cause. Third, rely on the principle that "governance values constancy" ^[14]. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The governance of a large country values constancy; one cannot issue orders in the morning and change them in the evening, and one must not 'zheteng' ^[15]"; "do not have a complete overhaul as soon as leadership changes, and especially do not start a separate set of projects just to display so-called performance; do not let hollow slogans fly everywhere." Fourth, rely on the mass line. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The whole Party must adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the people whole-heartedly, firmly establish the mass perspective, implement the mass line, respect the people's pioneering spirit, persist in everything being for the people and everything relying on the people, 'from the masses and to the masses,' always maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the people, always accepting the people's criticism and supervision, and always breathing the same air, sharing the same fate, and linking heart-to-heart with the people." Fifth, rely on vigorous implementation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "If one does not pay attention to implementation or does not conscientiously grasp implementation, no matter how good the planning and deployment are, they will turn into castles in the air." For matters of immediate urgency, act immediately and handle them quickly; for long-term tasks, maintain strategic resolve and patience, insisting on "painting a single blueprint to the end" ^[16]. One must strengthen "precision thinking," insisting on "achieving greatness while exhausting the microscopic" ^[17], ensuring the whole situation is grasped during planning and that operations are meticulous and precise. Sixth, rely on integrity and self-discipline. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "When being an official, one must be an upright official on the stage, a clean official, and not a mediocre or corrupt official." When encountering problems, making decisions, or handling work, one should first think from a political perspective, drawing inferences from the Party Constitution, the norms for intra-Party political life, and the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action, to discern whether something can be done and should be done, always remaining a "politically clear-headed person" ^[18].

Lead Party members and cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance with correct guidance

Establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance relies not only on cadres' self-education, self-improvement, and self-management; the guidance provided by the organization is also crucial.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "How to accurately and realistically assess cadres' performance is also a difficult point"; "We must improve the methods for cadre assessment, evaluation, and appointment, emphasizing both ability and character, and emphasizing both performance and political virtue." On the new journey, we must persist in the correct guidance to lead Party members and cadres in establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance.

Improve assessment methods and means. During his period of work in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must assess and evaluate cadres' performance from the height of persisting in 'building the Party for the public and governing for the people,' persisting in grasping the combination of development and concern for people's livelihoods, the combination of responsibility to higher authorities and responsibility to subordinates, and the combination of basing ourselves on the present and looking toward the long term—scientifically setting the content and procedures of performance assessment and improving the evaluation system and methods." Since the 18th Party Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has further pointed out: "Look at both development and the foundation, look at both manifest merit and latent merit, and take indicators and actual achievements such as livelihood improvement, social progress, and ecological benefits as important assessment content; we can no longer simply judge heroes based on the GDP growth rate." Through the "conductor's baton" of assessment, we must promote a pragmatic style where cadres emphasize reality and seek results—not proposing high indicators that are divorced from reality, not shouting hollow slogans to curry favor, and not creating fake performance that exhausts the people and drains the treasury—but rather solidly putting all tasks into practice.

Play the role of role models. The power of role models is infinite. General Secretary Xi Jinping is adept at using the power of role models to inspire the whole Party to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance. For example, during an inspection in Fujian, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The deeds of Comrade Gu Wenchang, like those of Comrades Jiao Yulu and Yang Shanzhou, demonstrate the strong Party spirit, lofty ideals, broad-mindedness, and noble sentiments of a Communist Party member and a leading cadre." During a discussion with students of the first training class for county Party secretaries at the Central Party School, he pointed out: "Comrade Jiao Yulu used his actual actions to mold the glorious image of an excellent Communist Party member and excellent county Party secretary. To be a county Party secretary, one must be a Jiao Yulu-style county Party secretary." A good role model is the best guide. We must play the role of role models, letting the vast number of Party members and cadres consciously learn from and strive to become advanced examples, acting on their inspiration and consciously becoming practitioners of a correct outlook on performance.

Implement accountability and liability. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Some cadres are accustomed to making 'head-patting' ^[19] decisions and acting recklessly with 'chest-thumping' ^[20] promises, only to 'butt-patting' ^[21] leave behind a mess of accounts while remaining in office or even being promoted without taking any responsibility. This is unacceptable. I have said that for such problems, we must implement a responsibility system, and moreover, pursue lifelong accountability." For example, addressing typical cases such as the ecological destruction in the Qilian Mountains of Gansu, the illegal construction of villas at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, and illegal mining in the Muli coal field of Qinghai, relevant regions and departments seriously investigated and held accountable a group of personnel for dereliction of duty. This effectively pushed Party committees and governments at all levels to shoulder the political responsibility for ecological civilization construction, resolutely ensuring that orders are carried out and prohibitions are respected, and ensuring the CPC Central Committee's various decisions and deployments on ecological civilization construction take root and yield results. Practice has proven that "holding one person accountable, warning a whole area, and improving a whole group" plays an important role in promoting Party members and cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance. We must be adept at making good use of this important mean and method.