Comprehensively strengthen the work style construction of leading cadres under the new situation*

（二OOJanuary 9th, seventh year)

Hu Jintao

The Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward clear requirements for strengthening the construction of a clean government and the fight against corruption, emphasizing that a correct party style will lead to harmony between cadres and the masses, and harmony between cadres and the masses will lead to social stability. This is a major task proposed by the central government from the strategic perspective of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and building a harmonious socialist society. Now that the central government's major policies have been set, the key is to implement them. To implement the central government's principles, policies and work arrangements, achieve our established economic and social development goals, and maintain and develop the party's advanced nature, a very important issue is that leading cadres at all levels must maintain an inspiring spirit and good style, and unite and lead the broad masses of party members and the people to work and struggle with high spirits.

The party's style embodies the party's purpose, affects the party's image, affects the support of the people, and affects the life and death of the party and the country. Leading cadres at all levels are the backbone of the party and the country. Their style of work has an extremely important impact on the development of the party and the people's undertakings. Since the reform and opening up, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, the Second Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 15th Central Committee, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee, etc. have all made arrangements specifically for the construction of the Party's style of work. Our party has put forward the important thoughts of adhering to the "two musts", correcting the party's style is of decisive significance, the party's style is related to the life and death of the party, the more we develop the socialist market economy, the more important it is to strengthen and improve the party's style construction, and to strengthen and improve the party's style construction, we must first focus on the work style construction of leading cadres. All this fully reflects the great importance our party attaches to strengthening the work style construction of leading cadres. It also shows that the work style construction of leading cadres is a strategic task of party building and must be pursued unremittingly.

For a long time, through the joint efforts of all party members, the party’s ideological style, study style, work style, leadership style, and cadres’ life style have been continuously improved, and remarkable results have been achieved. This has provided an important guarantee for our party to unite and lead the people to continuously win new victories in reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. At the same time, we must be clearly aware of the arduous tasks facing the party's work style construction and be clearly aware that there are some outstanding style problems among some leading cadres, mainly: lack of ambition, muddle along, indifference to the masses, divorce from reality, formalism, bureaucracy, fraud, exaggeration, extravagance and waste, greed for enjoyment, self-indulgence, going one's own way, arbitrary, weak and disorganized, using power for personal gain, arrogance and licentiousness, etc. Although these problems occur to a small number of leading cadres, their negative impact and consequences cannot be underestimated. If we are not vigilant, do not step up governance, and allow unhealthy tendencies to corrode the Party's body, it will harm the relationship between the Party and the masses, affect all the work of the Party and the country, and interfere with the development of the cause of the Party and the people.

The problems existing in the work style of leading cadres have complex and profound social and ideological roots. The long-term rule of the party can easily lead some people in the party to become separated from the masses. The implementation of opening up to the outside world and the development of a market economy can also easily cause some party members and cadres to be eroded by decadent and backward ideological concepts. In addition, we have deficiencies in cadre education and management work. Some leading cadres have relaxed their world view transformation, their ideals and beliefs have been shaken, their revolutionary will has declined, and they cannot withstand the test of power, money, and beauty. Effectively improving the work style of leading cadres so that leading cadres always maintain an inspiring spirit and good style and always adhere to the party's fundamental purpose is a test that our party must face when in power. This kind of test not only existed in the past, exists now, but will also exist for a long time in the future. Therefore, in the face of the complex and ever-changing national situation and the arduous tasks of domestic reform, development and stability, strengthening the work style of leading cadres is crucial for our party to fulfill its historical mission. We must fully understand the extreme importance and urgency of strengthening the work style of leading cadres from the perspective of the success or failure of the cause of the party and the people, and from the overall situation of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and building a harmonious socialist society.

First, strengthening the work style of leading cadres is an inevitable requirement for fully implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development. The Scientific Outlook on Development is a concentrated expression of the worldview and methodology that guides development. It is an important guiding ideology that must be adhered to in the long term to promote economic and social development and accelerate socialist modernization. The Scientific Outlook on Development is an understanding of the objective laws of economic and social development and a scientific theory that guides development. It must be implemented with a scientific and realistic attitude and a hard-working style. Judging from the actual situation, we still need to make arduous efforts to truly implement the Scientific Outlook on Development and promote economic and social development to the track of scientific development. If the issue of the work style of leading cadres is not properly resolved, it will be difficult to implement the Scientific Outlook on Development. The kind of approach that follows the old tradition and does not think about progress, the kind that goes against the rules and acts blindly and recklessly, the kind that only looks at the present and ignores the long-term, the kind that is too light and too heavy and ignores coordination, the kind that is keen on superficiality and showing off, the kind of approach that is overjoyed and divorced from reality, are all incompatible with the requirements of the scientific outlook on development and the goals of scientific development. Only by unremitting efforts to improve the work style of leading cadres, constantly educating and guiding leading cadres at all levels to effectively change their styles in accordance with the requirements of the Scientific Outlook on Development, consciously correcting concepts and practices that violate the Scientific Outlook on Development, and solidly solving outstanding contradictions and problems that restrict scientific development can we promote sound and rapid economic and social development and continuously create new situations in scientific development.

Second, strengthening the work style of leading cadres is an inevitable requirement for building a harmonious socialist society. Building a harmonious socialist society is a major strategic task proposed by our party based on the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the overall situation of building a well-off society in an all-round way. The socialist harmonious society we want to build is a harmonious society that is jointly built and enjoyed by all people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This means that to build a harmonious socialist society, we must give full play to the main role of the people under the leadership of the party. At present, our country has entered a critical period of reform and development. The economic system has undergone profound changes, the social structure has undergone profound changes, the interest pattern has been profoundly adjusted, and ideological concepts have undergone profound changes. To build a harmonious socialist society under such historical conditions, we must adhere to the principle that power is for the people, feelings are for the people, and benefits are for the people, conscientiously solve the most direct, most realistic interest issues that the people are most concerned about, realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, and always maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people. What needs to be emphasized is that the good style of leading cadres itself is a huge force that unites the hearts and minds of the party and the people, and is an important factor in promoting social harmony. A good atmosphere can create a strong atmosphere of strengthening righteousness and eliminating evil, and can play an important role in promoting good and suppressing evil. If leading cadres have an improper style of work and are dishonest, not only will it be difficult for them to become leaders in building a harmonious socialist society, but they will also damage the image of the party and the government among the people, affect the relationship between the party and the masses, and even intensify social conflicts. Only by unremittingly improving the work style of leading cadres, constantly educating and guiding leading cadres at all levels to truly serve the people, being pragmatic and honest, creating a harmonious relationship between the party and the masses, and closely uniting the broad masses of the people around the party and the government, can we form a powerful force for jointly building a harmonious socialist society.

Third, strengthening the work style of leading cadres is an inevitable requirement to improve the party’s governing ability and maintain and develop the party’s advanced nature. The party's governing ability and advanced nature are not only reflected in the party's theory, line, principles and policies, but also in the good style of the majority of party members, cadres, especially leading cadres. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once profoundly pointed out: "The quality of the leadership of the Communist Party depends on the ideology and style of our party." The style of leading cadres is an important indicator of whether a political party has a high ability to govern and whether it can always maintain its advanced nature. It is also an important basis for the people to judge whether a political party is trustworthy and whether it can govern well. If the leading cadres of a political party have a good work style, their cohesion and appeal among the people will be strong, and their ruling foundation will be solid. If the leading cadres of a political party have a poor work style, they will inevitably become separated from the people and lose their trust, and their ruling foundation will gradually collapse. The Communist Party of China is a Marxist political party that serves the people wholeheartedly. It has formed many glorious traditions and fine styles in its more than 80 years of struggle. These glorious traditions and fine styles are important political advantages of our party, an important part of our party's governing ability and advanced nature, and a clear banner that our party has set up among the broad masses of the people. Only by unremittingly improving the work style of leading cadres and constantly educating and guiding leading cadres at all levels to consciously carry forward the party's glorious tradition and fine style can our party better improve its ability to govern and maintain its advanced nature forever.

Fourth, strengthening the work style of leading cadres is an inevitable requirement for doing a good job in anti-corruption and promoting integrity under the new situation. The style of leading cadres is an external reflection of the cadres' worldview, outlook on life, and values, and is a concrete manifestation of the cadres' party spirit, political quality, and moral realm. A good work style is an important guarantee for resisting negative corruption and maintaining integrity, while a bad work style is often a driving factor towards negative corruption. Judging from the corruption cases of leading cadres investigated and dealt with in recent years, many people's violations of discipline and law began with problems in their work style. This shows that once leading cadres relax their requirements on work style, they will reduce or even lose their ability to resist corruption and prevent degeneration. They will be disarmed of their ideological weapons to combat corruption and promote integrity, and will eventually slip into the abyss of corruption. Strengthening the work style of leading cadres, adhering to preventing the slightest change and sounding the alarm are important basic tasks in combating corruption and promoting integrity. Only by continuously educating and guiding leading cadres at all levels to consciously resist the erosion of various decadent and backward ideas and concepts, and by early discovering and solving emerging problems in work style can we effectively prevent and reduce the occurrence of corruption and effectively deepen the anti-corruption work.

In short, under the historical conditions of long-term governance, the ruling environment of our party has undergone profound changes, the historical tasks shouldered by the party have undergone profound changes, and the status of party members and cadres has undergone profound changes. Under the combined influence of various factors, international and domestic, history and reality, economy and society, and intra-party and extra-party, the actual danger of unhealthy tendencies in leading cadres is increasing. Strengthening the construction of leading cadres' work style has become more important and urgent than ever before. Party committees at all levels must enhance their awareness of danger, be prepared for danger in times of peace, put the strengthening of the work style of leading cadres in a more prominent position, and be determined to work hard, be practical, and achieve results.

To strengthen the work style construction of leading cadres, the general requirements are: adhere to the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "Three Represents", fully implement the Scientific Outlook on Development, carry forward the party's glorious tradition and fine style, and comprehensively strengthen the work style in accordance with the requirements of the new situation and new tasks. The construction of ideological style, study style, work style, leadership style, and cadres' life style should promote new righteousness, resist unhealthy tendencies, focus on solving outstanding problems, and strive to achieve further changes in the style of leading cadres, so as to provide a strong guarantee for building a well-off society in an all-round way and building a harmonious socialist society. At work, we must vigorously promote good habits in the following eight aspects.

(1) Be diligent in learning and apply what you have learned. Learning is an important way for leading cadres to grow their talents and improve their quality, and it is an important foundation for doing a good job in all tasks. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out long ago: "Learning is what we pay attention to, especially for cadres and comrades. The need for learning is even more urgent. If you don't learn, you can't lead the work, improve the work, and build a big party." In today's era, scientific and technological progress is changing with each passing day, knowledge updates are accelerating, the national situation is constantly changing, and domestic reform, development, stability, and party building are facing new situations and new problems. Faced with such new situations and new tasks, if our leading cadres do not study hard, do a good job in learning, and continuously improve themselves in study and work, it will be difficult to fulfill their historical responsibilities, or even gain a foothold in this era. The idea that you can still work without studying and the unwillingness to study hard, the attitude of being satisfied with half-knowledge and dabbling, the excuse that you are too busy with work to avoid studying or doing things half-heartedly, and the phenomenon of treating learning as window dressing instead of promoting work, are all very wrong and very harmful. Leading cadres at all levels must firmly establish the idea of ​​lifelong learning, adhere to the Marxist style of study that integrates theory with practice, learn well with a humble attitude and tenacious perseverance, learn not only from book knowledge, but also from the vivid practice of the people, and strive to be at the forefront of building a learning party and a learning society. Leading cadres at all levels must study Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "Three Represents" in depth, study the Scientific Outlook on Development, building a socialist harmonious society and other major strategic thoughts, truly understand and grasp the spiritual essence, improve theoretical literacy, and constantly strengthen theoretical consciousness and theoretical guidance at work; they must consciously study modern scientific and cultural knowledge, and learn from leadership work Starting from the actual needs, based on the principle of making up for what is missing, we should speed up the updating of knowledge, optimize the knowledge structure, and continuously enrich the knowledge arms and knowledge reserves for leadership work; we must consciously become an example of applying what we have learned and achieving success, focusing on solving practical problems in reform, development and stability, and transforming learning experiences and results into ideas for planning work, measures to promote work, and skills for leadership work. In particular, it must be transformed into the ability to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and build a harmonious socialist society, and into the ability to promote the party's governance capacity and advanced nature construction.

(2) We must care about the people and serve the people. Our party has clearly stated that the core issue in strengthening and improving the party's work style is to maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people. The foundation of our party is in the people, its blood is in the people, and its strength is in the people. Only by always maintaining the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people can our party be invincible. Under the conditions of long-term governance, our party must give full play to its greatest advantage of being closely connected with the people and effectively prevent the greatest danger of being separated from the people. The key lies in leading cadres. Whether they care about the people and serve the people, or whether they are aloof and disconnected from the people, is the touchstone to measure whether the leading cadres' style is correct. Leading cadres at all levels must firmly establish the Marxist mass perspective, always adhere to the party's mass line, always position themselves and the people, and never change their position of sharing the same fate with the people at any time and under any circumstances. They must not forget the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly and firmly believe that the people are the real heroes. The heroic historical materialist viewpoint cannot be lost; we must be close to the people ideologically and emotionally, and truly treat the people as masters, relatives, and teachers. The higher the position, the more attention must be paid to maintaining close contact with the people. Achieve heart-to-heart connection with the people; insist on coming from the people and going to the people, taking the wishes and demands of the people as the fundamental basis for decision-making, so that all decisions reflect the practical interests of the people and represent the long-term interests of the people, reflect the general wishes of the majority of the people, and accommodate the special requirements of some people. ; We must put solving people's livelihood issues at the top of all work, make great efforts to solve outstanding problems that the masses have strongly expressed, make great efforts to care about the production and life of people in need, do more practical things that comply with public opinion, resolve people's concerns, and benefit the people, and strive to let the people get tangible benefits and share the fruits of reform and development.

(3) We must work hard and strive for practical results. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once pointed out that the reality in the world is the result of action. If we don’t do it, there will be no Marxism at all. Our country is facing a rare period of important strategic opportunities, and we are shouldering unprecedented arduous tasks. Only by being down-to-earth and working hard can we seize the opportunity and ride on the momentum. If you engage in formalism and superficiality, you will definitely miss opportunities and affect your career development. Leading cadres at all levels should carry forward the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, strengthen the sense of responsibility and urgency in work, overcome impetuous emotions, abandon selfish thoughts, make up their minds to get rid of meetings and greetings, devote their minds to their careers, and invest their energy in Pay close attention to implementation and create tangible work results; we must work hard to overcome difficulties, dare to face difficulties and face up to contradictions, take the initiative to go to places with difficult conditions, complex environments, and concentrated contradictions, work with cadres and the masses to study methods and take measures, and strive to open up work situation; we must work hard on reform and innovation, study new situations, solve new problems, and continuously push the work forward based on in-depth research and grasp the laws; we must work hard on implementation, observe the actual situation, tell the truth, do practical things, and seek practical results, and the finalized Things must be carried out vigorously and resolutely, and the assigned work must be supervised and inspected to the end. Important links must be taken the lead and command from the front, so as to advance our cause step by step, so that all political achievements can truly stand the test of practice, the masses, and history.

(4) We must work hard and be thrifty. Hard work, diligence and frugality are the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and the heirloom of our party. Now, our country's economic aggregate has expanded and our material conditions have improved than in the past. However, our country is still a developing country and is still and will be in the primary stage of socialism for a long time. The lives of all people are not rich yet, and there are still many things that need to be done in national construction. This requires us to adhere to the policy of strict economy and opposition to waste. Even if our country develops further in the future and its overall national strength becomes stronger, the good tradition of hard work, diligence and thrift cannot be lost. It should also be noted that hard work, diligence and thrift are also a state of mind, which can play an important role in strengthening the will and cultivating sentiments, forming a powerful force to unite people and overcome difficulties. The key to carrying forward the spirit of hard work, diligence and thrift is that leading cadres should set an example, especially senior cadres, who should take the lead in setting an example. Whether the trend of diligence and frugality prevails among leading cadres, or whether the trend of extravagance and waste prevails will have an important impact on the social atmosphere. "Looking at the virtuous countries and families in the past, success was due to diligence and frugality, and failure was due to extravagance." Leading cadres at all levels must keep in mind the "two musts", take the lead in carrying forward the spirit of hard work, diligence and frugality, take the lead in opposing extravagance and extravagance, and take the lead in resisting money worship, hedonism and extravagance. They must implement the principle of diligence and frugality in all work, be careful in budgeting, strictly control, and truly use limited funds and resources on the cutting edge.

(5) We must take the overall situation into consideration and enforce orders and prohibitions. For a big party and country like ours, if we are to safeguard the overall situation of the work of the whole party and the country, accomplish some major things, and maintain social unity and harmony, we must have unified will and unified action. If each of them acts in his own way, and there is a situation of disunity, not only will nothing be accomplished, but it will also bring serious consequences to the party and the country. Compared with the overall work of the whole party and the country, all localities and departments are only partial. If the overall interests are damaged, the partial interests will not be preserved in the end. Our leading cadres, whether working locally or in departments, all have the political responsibility to safeguard the overall situation of the party and the country. They must consciously maintain a high degree of consistency with the central government. They must consciously maintain the authority of the central government and the unity and seriousness of the central government's policies. They must adhere to the principle that minor principles should be subordinated to major principles and local parts should be subordinated to the overall situation. They must ensure the implementation of the party's theory, line, principles and policies, and ensure the implementation of the work deployment of the party and the state. Leading cadres at all levels must firmly establish the idea that the whole country is a game of chess, strictly abide by the party's disciplines, and must not use the special characteristics of localities and departments to make orders or prohibitions, or even have policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. At the same time, we must be good at integrating the spirit of the central government with the actual situation of local governments and departments, carry out work creatively, strive to guide, protect and develop the enthusiasm of all parties, and truly achieve the unity of responsibility to the top and responsibility to the bottom.

(6) We must promote democracy and work together in unity. Inner-party democracy is the life of the party. Democratic centralism is the fundamental organizational system and leadership system of the Party. Fully developing intra-party democracy and adhering to correct centralization are inevitable requirements for gathering the wisdom of the whole party and making correct decisions, maintaining the unity and unity of the party, and enhancing the party's creativity and combat effectiveness. It is an inevitable requirement for mobilizing the enthusiasm of all parties and working together to complete the party's historical tasks. It is also an inevitable requirement for promoting people's democracy and building socialist political civilization. Whether democracy within the party is fully developed or not is closely related to the style of leading cadres, especially the top leaders. Generally speaking, our leading cadres at all levels can adhere to the principle of democratic centralism and position themselves correctly among the leaders and among the party members and the masses. However, some leading cadres do have prominent problems in implementing democratic centralism. Some do not listen to all opinions with an open mind and rely on patting their heads to make decisions; some do not pay attention to the role of everyone and are accustomed to working alone and doing everything instead; some ignore organizational principles and procedures and decide major matters without authorization, putting themselves above the organization; some are self-centered, domineering, engage in "one-note speech", and even retaliate against comrades who express different opinions. The existence of these phenomena is not only harmful to the cause of the party and the people, but also harmful to the cadres themselves. Leading cadres at all levels must strictly implement the various institutional provisions of democratic centralism and act in strict accordance with the internal deliberations and decision-making mechanisms of the leadership team. They must not have the final say personally, let alone act arbitrarily; they must enhance their democratic awareness, listen to opinions from all sides with an open mind, be good at uniting and working with comrades, consciously accept the supervision of party organizations, party members and the masses, and jointly promote a situation of unity and integrity. The main responsible comrades of the leadership teams at all levels must especially take the lead in promoting democracy, be open-minded, open-minded, be kind-hearted, treat others equally, be willing to listen to various opinions, including different opinions, consciously accept supervision, be good at mobilizing everyone's enthusiasm, unite all comrades in the team to work together, and give full play to the overall synergy of the team.

(7) We must use power impartially and engage in politics with integrity. The power in the hands of leading cadres at all levels is given by the party and the people and can only be used to benefit the people and cannot be used to seek personal gain for themselves or small groups. Every leading cadre must always think about the important issue of where the power in his hands comes from and who should be used for it. In real life, some leading cadres embark on the road of illegal crimes. The fundamental reason is that they do not think clearly and correctly on this important issue. Once they have power in their hands, they forget about it, use it for personal gain, do whatever they want, and ultimately end up ruined. Leading cadres at all levels must consciously strengthen their party spirit, firmly establish the Marxist world view, outlook on life, values and correct views on power, status and interests. They must always cultivate the virtues of politics, always think about the harm of greed, always have a heart of self-discipline, truly be upright and spotless, and always maintain the Communist Party A person's noble character and revolutionary integrity; we must consciously abide by the Party's discipline and the country's laws and regulations, strictly implement the regulations on leading cadres to be honest in politics, always be wary of the temptations of power, money, and beauty, prevent the commercialization and vulgarization of the power in their hands, and never turn power into a tool for personal gain. Leading cadres at all levels must effectively strengthen education, reminders, and restraints on family members and staff around them, so that they can consciously and strictly demand themselves. At the same time, we must prevent people with ulterior motives from opening gaps in them. Leading cadres at all levels must not seek improper benefits for their relatives and staff around them, let alone act as a protective umbrella for their disciplinary and illegal behaviors. Party organizations and disciplinary inspection agencies at all levels must strengthen supervision and inspection of the employment status of spouses and children of leading cadres, and resolutely correct existing problems.

(8) Live a decent, fun and healthy life. The life style and life interests of leading cadres are not only related to their personal conduct and image, but also related to the party's prestige and image among the masses, so it is by no means a trivial matter. You cannot think that as long as you are successful and capable at work, it does not matter if you have some problems with your life style. A large number of facts show that some leading cadres degenerate and fall into the pit of violating discipline and law step by step. They often start from seemingly trivial matters such as eating, drinking and having fun, and many of them are caused by power and sex transactions. A thousand-mile embankment collapses into a mosquito hole. If leading cadres are unruly and dishonest in their life style, and if they have a gap in their moral sentiments and suffer a decline, it will be difficult to be honest and honest. To strengthen the work style construction of leading cadres, we must regard advocating a good life style and healthy life interests as an important aspect. Leading cadres at all levels must consciously strengthen their ideological and moral cultivation, model abide by social ethics, professional ethics, and family virtues, be ethical, value conduct, pay attention to the slightest, and resolutely resist the erosion of decadent ideas and lifestyles; they must pay attention to cultivating a healthy life interest, maintain noble spiritual pursuits, distinguish right from wrong, exercise self-denial and prudence, correctly choose personal hobbies, improve cultural literacy, and get rid of low-level tastes , we must not indulge in the feasting and dissipation, and we must be cautious about making friends, insist on choosing good friends, make more friends with ordinary people, make friends with grassroots cadres, make more friends with advanced models, make more friends with experts and scholars, pay attention to purify your social circle, and be highly alert to those who come with personal goals, let alone "sugar daddy" for the sake of enjoyment. In short, you must always check all aspects of your life, be the same on stage and off stage, work the same as your spare time, be the same with or without supervision, and always maintain the political nature of a Communist Party member. (over)

﹡This is part of Comrade Hu Jintao’s speech at the seventh plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.