Hu Jintao (2004-01-12)

This plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reviewed and summarized last year's work, and studied and deployed this year's work, focusing on strengthening the party's work style and building a clean government and fighting against corruption. It was a good meeting. I completely agree with Comrade Wu Guanzheng's report.

In the past year, through the joint efforts of the whole party and the hard work of the discipline inspection and supervision cadres, relying on the strong support of the people, new achievements have been made in the construction of party conduct and clean government and the fight against corruption. In particular, new progress has been made in strengthening education on party conduct and clean government, investigating and handling disciplinary and illegal cases, correcting unhealthy practices in departments and industries, promoting innovation in systems and mechanisms, and strengthening supervision and restraint on power. It has played a positive role in promoting reform, development and stability.

This year is a critical year for fully implementing the spirit of the 16th National Congress and the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee and realizing the "10th Five-Year Plan". The task of reform, development and stability is very heavy. All comrades in the party, especially leading cadres at all levels, must persist in carrying forward the party's fine style of work, adhere to the requirements of "two musts" and "eight insistences and eight objections", always maintain a high-spirited mental state, lead the masses to unswervingly implement the central government's decisions and arrangements, emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, keep pace with the times, pioneer and innovate, and constantly open up new prospects for work. At the same time, in the face of the situation where negative corruption is still prone to occur in some fields, party committees and governments at all levels must further enhance their sense of responsibility and urgency, and in accordance with the requirements of the Central Committee, unswervingly deepen the construction of party style and clean government and the fight against corruption.

Today, I would like to focus on the issue of vigorously promoting the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism throughout the party and promoting the trend of truth-seeking and pragmatism. The reason why I want to highlight this issue is because it is a very important, fundamental and fundamental issue for advancing the work of the party and the country, including promoting the construction of party style and clean government and the fight against corruption.

1. From the strategic perspective of realizing the grand goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, fully understand the extreme importance of vigorously promoting the spirit of seeking truth and being pragmatic

Seeking truth and being pragmatic is the consistent scientific spirit of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. It is the core content of our party’s ideological line. It is also the party’s fine tradition and the political character that communists should possess. Our party has always advocated seeking truth and being pragmatic. As early as the period of the democratic revolution, Comrade Mao Zedong called on the entire party to combine revolutionary spirit with practical spirit, and warned all comrades in the party to act honestly. It is impossible to accomplish several things in the world without an honest attitude. After entering a new period of reform and opening up, Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized that everything in the world is done by doing, and if you don't do it, there will be no Marxism at all. We must resolutely stop the pursuit of superficiality, formalism that does not talk about actual results, actual efficiency, actual speed, actual quality, and actual cost, and put an end to the bad habits of empty words, big words, and lies. Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Jiang Zemin has repeatedly emphasized that formalism and bureaucracy are a major scourge, and we must severely eradicate the unhealthy tendencies of formalism and bureaucracy. We must adhere to emphasizing reality, telling the truth, being pragmatic, and seeking practical results at all times, and vigorously promote a down-to-earth, hard-working work style. The history of our party for more than 80 years has fully demonstrated that seeking truth and being pragmatic is the vitality of the party and the key to the prosperity of the cause of the party and the people. When the pursuit of truth and pragmatism is done well, the party organization and the ranks of party members and cadres will be full of vigor and vitality, and the cause of the party and the people will develop smoothly; when the pursuit of truth and pragmatism is not done well, the party organizations and the ranks of party members and cadres will lack vigor and vitality, and the cause of the party and the people will suffer setbacks. Our country's reform and development are in a critical period. Facing new situations and new tasks, it is very important and urgent to further vigorously promote the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism throughout the party and to promote the trend of truth-seeking and pragmatism.

The current international and domestic situation is generally favorable for us to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. The trend of world multipolarity and economic globalization continues to develop with twists and turns, and peace and development remain the themes of today's era. With the enhancement of my country's comprehensive national strength, my country's international status and influence have further improved. Major countries and national groups have paid more attention to my country's role. Many countries are seeking to strengthen cooperation with my country. We adhere to the path of peaceful rise and try our best to avoid being the focus of major conflicts in the world. Our country is in a proactive and favorable position in international affairs. The world's scientific and technological progress is changing with each passing day, and the pace of global industrial restructuring is accelerating, providing us with new opportunities to expand international economic and technological cooperation. my country's economy has maintained sustained and rapid growth for more than 20 years, the socialist market economic system has been initially established, and opening up has continued to expand, laying a solid material and technical foundation and a favorable institutional environment for promoting the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society. The tremendous changes brought about by reform, opening up, and modernization drive have further stimulated the enthusiasm of the people across the country in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. After arduous exploration, our party has formed its basic theory, basic line, basic program and basic experience, and improved its ability to govern and rejuvenate the country under new historical conditions. In the past year of 2003, we have properly responded to various emergencies and natural disasters, made remarkable achievements in economic and social development, and made a good start in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, creating very favorable conditions for us to move forward.

While seeing the favorable conditions in all aspects, we must also be clearly aware of the difficulties and challenges that exist on the way forward. The world is still far from peaceful, and factors of instability, uncertainty, and insecurity have increased. The United States has a prominent tendency of unilateralism, with new manifestations of hegemonism and power politics; local wars and conflicts caused by ethnic, religious and other issues are continuing in some areas, terrorism has caused serious harm, and non-traditional security factors have become prominent; world economic growth is weak, and competition in comprehensive national strength has become more intense; Western hostile forces are stepping up their political attempts to Westernize and divide us. There are also some outstanding contradictions and problems in my country's economic and social development. For example, farmers have difficulty in increasing their income, and there is great pressure for employment and re-employment. The contradiction between economic development and population, resources, and the environment is very prominent. The development of productivity still faces many institutional obstacles. Group incidents caused by conflicts among the people occur from time to time, and some negative corruption phenomena are still breeding and spreading.

In the context of the coexistence of various favorable and unfavorable factors at home and abroad, we must seize the period of important strategic opportunities, promote the coordinated development of the economy and society, constantly create a new situation in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and achieve the grand goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. A very important thing is to always be truthful and pragmatic, judge the situation comprehensively and scientifically, enhance the awareness of hardship, be prepared for danger in times of peace, seize opportunities, meet challenges, overcome difficulties, and put the foothold of accelerating development into hard work.

In general, in the practice of reform, opening up and modernization, the majority of party members and cadres have done a good job in seeking truth and being pragmatic, and working hard. They conscientiously implemented the party's line, principles and policies, kept in mind the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, emancipated their minds, sought truth from facts, worked conscientiously and worked hard, and won praise from the people with their hard-working spirit and excellent style. In particular, a large number of outstanding leading cadres such as Kong Fansen and Zheng Peimin have fully demonstrated the spiritual outlook of contemporary Communists. However, we must see that on the issue of persisting in seeking truth and being pragmatic, there are also some outstanding problems that need to be solved urgently among the party members and cadres. The main manifestations are as follows: First, they do not want to make progress and muddle along, do not study theory seriously, do not absorb new knowledge, do not think deeply about new problems, are stubborn and stagnant in thinking, and are perfunctory and mediocre in work. The second is that the work style is floating and the work is unrealistic. Meetings are used to implement meetings and documents are used to implement documents. They are satisfied with general calls, catch a glimpse of the work, and do research to scratch the surface. They are unable to sink and have no clear understanding of the actual situation. The third is to be eager for great success, eager for quick success, not to act in accordance with objective laws, to set unrealistically high targets regardless of actual conditions, and to engage in blind instructions that are contrary to science, leading to decision-making errors and serious waste. Fourth, they follow their own whims and do their own thing, and do not conscientiously implement the central government's policies and work arrangements, and even engage in "policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom", which not only harms the overall interests of the country, but also infringes on the vital interests of the people. Fifth, they have an impetuous mentality and pursue fame and fortune. They always calculate personal gains and losses in the present situation, are accustomed to making superficial remarks, and are keen on engaging in "image projects" and "achievement projects", which are divorced from reality and waste people and money. Sixth, they engage in fraud, deceive superiors and deceive subordinates, report good news but not bad news, cover up conflicts and problems, deceive the masses, and deceive superiors. The seventh is to be prudent and cautious, worry about gains and losses, adopt a non-self-centered attitude on issues of principle, pursue the philosophy of "hello, me, and everyone", and do not carry out criticism, do not let people criticize, or even suppress criticism. Eighth, they are greedy for enjoyment, extravagant and wasteful, pursue low-level interests, are keen on personal enjoyment, eat and drink extravagantly, spend money and waste extravagantly. The ninth is to use power for personal gain and compete with the people. When doing work, we do not first consider the interests of the masses, but first consider the interests of small groups, departments, and units. We charge arbitrary fees, raise funds, and apportion indiscriminately, infringing on the interests of the masses, and even enriching our own pockets. Ten is to be aloof, disconnected from the masses, indifferent to the safety and security of the masses, have simple and crude working methods, and even wantonly oppress the masses. Wait. These issues are incompatible with the purpose and nature of the party and the interests of the people, and will inevitably arouse strong dissatisfaction among the people. Due to the existence of these problems, some things that could have been done were not done well, some problems that should have been solved were delayed for a long time, and some conflicts that could have been alleviated were further intensified. If these unhealthy trends are not resolutely stopped, they will inevitably seriously weaken the combat effectiveness of the party members and cadres, damage the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people, and ultimately hinder the smooth realization of the grand goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.

All comrades in the party must be clearly aware that in the face of the complex and ever-changing international environment, the arduous and arduous domestic construction tasks, and the historical mission shouldered by our party, we must implement the important thought of "Three Represents" and the spirit of the 16th National Congress, do a good job in development, the party's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country, implement a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development concept, and achieve sustained, rapid, coordinated, and healthy economic development and comprehensive social progress. We must vigorously promote the pursuit of We must persist in building the party for the public good and governing for the people, maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people, and effectively safeguard, realize and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. We must vigorously promote the pursuit of truth and pragmatism. The spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, and the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism must be vigorously promoted; in order to comprehensively promote the new great project of party building, strengthen the team building of party members and cadres, and improve the party’s governing ability, we must also vigorously promote the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, and the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism. All comrades in the Party must keep in mind that the better the situation, the more active the masses are in accelerating development, the more we must persist in seeking truth and pragmatism, the more we must keep a clear mind, the more we must adhere to a good work style, do our work well step by step, and push forward reform, opening up, and modernization in a down-to-earth manner.

2. Closely connect with each other to strengthen and improve the work of the party and the state, and vigorously promote the spirit of seeking truth and being pragmatic

The key to vigorously promoting the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism in the whole party and promoting the trend of truth-seeking and pragmatism is to guide all comrades in the party to constantly pursue the truth of the basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism in my country, adhere to the reality of long-term hard struggle, and pursue the laws and people of socialist construction. The truth of the laws governing the development of human society must be grasped, and development is the first priority for the party to govern and rejuvenate the country; the historical status and role of the people must be true, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people must be developed; the truth of the laws of the Communist Party's governance must be true, and the party's building must be comprehensively strengthened and improved. Comprehensive measures must be taken to strengthen ideological education, promote work implementation, and promote system construction, so that all comrades in the party, especially leading cadres at all levels, insist on seeking truth and being pragmatic, advancing with the times, uniting as one, and working hard.

First, effectively strengthen ideological education and continuously improve the consciousness of party members and cadres in seeking truth and pragmatism. Thoughts are the precursor to action. In order to enable the majority of party members and cadres to seek truth and be pragmatic in their actions, we must first make the majority of party members and cadres deeply understand the extremely important ideologically of persisting in seeking truth and being pragmatic, and lay a solid ideological foundation for seeking truth and being pragmatic.

We must further enhance the party’s awareness of its purpose. Persisting in serving the people wholeheartedly and maintaining a correct relationship with the people are the fundamental principles for persisting in seeking truth and being pragmatic. Only by always keeping in mind the purpose of the party, insisting on proceeding from the interests of the people in everything, and insisting on taking the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the highest standard can we be fundamentally truthful and pragmatic. It is necessary to carry out in-depth education on Marxist mass viewpoints and the Party's mass line among the majority of party members and cadres, especially leading cadres, so that the majority of party members and cadres can firmly establish the viewpoint that the people are the creators of history, the viewpoint of humbly learning from the people's masses, the viewpoint of wholeheartedly seeking the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, the viewpoint that the power of cadres is given by the people, the viewpoint of being responsible to the party and the people We should help Party members and cadres to further improve their consciousness of establishing the Party for the public good and governing for the people, further improve their consciousness of insisting on using power for the people, caring for the people, and seeking benefits for the people, and effectively solve the problems raised by Comrade Jiang Zemin about why they joined the revolution, what they should do as cadres now, and what they should leave behind in the future. At any time and under any circumstances, leading cadres must insist on putting the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people first, and consciously use the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people to test their work and political achievements. They must do everything possible to do anything that benefits the people, and resolutely not do anything that harms the interests of the broad masses.

We must further understand our country’s basic national conditions. Correctly understanding the national conditions, formulating lines, principles, policies and carrying out work in accordance with the national conditions are the fundamental basis for persisting in seeking truth and being pragmatic. It is necessary to persist in carrying out basic national conditions education so that the majority of party members and cadres can firmly remember that our country is and will be in the primary stage of socialism for a long time. The level of productivity development is not high yet, the per capita GDP is still among the lowest in the world, and the situation of large population, weak foundation and unbalanced development will exist for a long time. When we think about problems, make decisions, and do things, we must insist on starting from the biggest reality of the basic national conditions. We must not only increase the sense of urgency in our work, seize opportunities with the spirit of seizing the day and accelerate the development of various undertakings, but also fully consider the long-term and arduous nature of socialist modernization. We must be mentally prepared for long-term hard work, prevent and overcome the mentality and practice of eagerness for success, quick success, and quick profit, and work hard and work hard in a down-to-earth manner.

We must further deepen our understanding of the laws governing the Communist Party, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society. Understanding the laws, grasping the laws, following and applying the laws are the fundamental requirements for persisting in seeking truth and being pragmatic. In long-term practice, we have achieved significant results in our understanding of the laws governing the Communist Party, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society. These achievements are deeply reflected in Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "Three Represents", in the party's basic line, basic program and basic experience, and in a series of principles and policies of the party and the country since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee. We must persist in using these valuable results to educate party members and cadres, so that everyone can better grasp regularity, enhance initiative, reduce blindness, and overcome one-sidedness when advancing various tasks. For example, adhering to the people-centered approach, establishing and implementing a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development concept, and coordinating urban and rural development, regional development, economic and social development, harmonious development of man and nature, and domestic development and opening up are the summary of my country's more than 20 years of practical experience in reform, opening up, and modernization. It is an inevitable requirement for building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and is in line with the objective laws of social development. To establish a correct view of political performance, we must first establish a scientific view of development. Without adhering to a scientific view of development, it is impossible to implement a correct view of political performance. On the other hand, we must establish a scientific outlook on development and a correct outlook on political achievements. Without adhering to a correct outlook on political achievements, it is impossible to implement the scientific outlook on development. In the final analysis, only by acting in accordance with objective laws and truly establishing and implementing a scientific outlook on development and a correct outlook on political performance can we more consciously adhere to economic construction as the center, more consciously promote the coordinated development of socialist material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization, more consciously promote all-round social progress and human development, and more consciously promote the sustainable development of the economy and society.

Second, we must earnestly implement the work and embody truth-seeking and pragmatism in all work. Seeking truth and being pragmatic must be carried out closely around the implementation of various tasks of the party and the country. The most important thing is to put them into practice, take actions and achieve results. A prominent problem we often face is that there are many good ideas, good policies, and good measures put forward by the central and local governments to promote the development of the cause. However, many things are often only discussed for a while after they are proposed, but are not really implemented and do not achieve the expected results. Looking for the root cause, the important reason is still due to the failure to seek truth and be pragmatic. From the perspective of ensuring the comprehensive implementation of the party's line, principles and policies and the smooth realization of the party and the country's development goals, we must bring the issue of implementation very seriously to the whole party. Recently, the central government has held a series of important meetings such as the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, making plans for the current and future work. The key now is to implement them one by one. It is necessary to guide the majority of party members and cadres, especially leading cadres at all levels, to closely connect with the practice of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, insist on telling the truth, taking practical measures, doing practical things, and being pragmatic and effective, and truly focus on studying and solving major issues in reform, development and stability, on studying and solving urgent problems in the production and life of the people, and on studying and solving outstanding problems in party building. They must adhere to the spirit of seeking truth and pragmatism to implement, and constantly improve the consciousness and firmness of pursuing truth and pragmatism in the practice of implementation.

What needs special emphasis is that in the process of implementation, we must pay attention to the following three relationships. One is the relationship between local and global aspects. We must not only insist on proceeding from the reality of the region and department, carry out work creatively, and pay attention to overcoming dogmatic practices that are divorced from reality and follow scripts, but also firmly establish the overall concept, enhance the consciousness of acting under the overall situation, and resolutely put an end to the unhealthy phenomenon of "policies from above and countermeasures from below." The second is the immediate and long-term relationship. We must not only promptly resolve the outstanding contradictions and problems that urgently need to be resolved in the current economic and social development, effectively improve work efficiency, and conscientiously correct the yamen style of shoving the blame and delaying work, but also focus on future development, establish long-term mechanisms, pursue long-term results, and resolutely prevent short-term behaviors of eager for quick success and short-term gains. The third is the relationship between inheritance and innovation. We must not only uphold and carry forward effective good traditions, good experiences, and good practices, but also actively promote all work to keep pace with the times in accordance with the requirements of the new situation and new tasks, and resolutely overcome the concepts and behaviors that are not enterprising and stick to the past.

Third, establish and improve systems to provide institutional guarantee for pursuing truth and pragmatism. Institutional issues are more fundamental, overall, stable and long-term. Adhering to the principle of seeking truth and being pragmatic must not only be emphasized ideologically, but also implemented institutionally, and institutional construction and innovation must be used to ensure that the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism is vigorously promoted and the trend of truth-seeking and pragmatism is vigorously promoted throughout the party. It is necessary to uphold and improve various learning systems and continuously improve the ability to use Marxist positions, viewpoints and methods to understand laws, grasp laws and guide work. It is necessary to uphold and improve the investigation and research system, go deep into the masses, the grassroots, and reality, and continuously improve the ability to analyze and solve problems based on actual conditions. It is necessary to uphold and improve the system of contacting the masses, broaden the channels for reflecting social conditions and public opinion, and continuously improve the ability to do a good job in mass work under the new situation. It is necessary to uphold and improve various systems of democratic centralism, develop intra-party democracy, adhere to collective leadership, implement individual division of labor and responsibility under collective leadership, and continuously improve the creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness of the entire party and party organizations at all levels. It is necessary to uphold and improve the democratic decision-making system, fully promote democracy, listen to opinions extensively, strictly implement procedures, and continuously improve the scientific nature and feasibility of decision-making. It is necessary to uphold and improve various public service systems, consciously accept the supervision of the masses on the work of leading organs and leading cadres, and continuously improve the level and quality of serving the people. The key to seeking truth and pragmatism lies in leading cadres. We must conscientiously implement and further improve the cadre selection and appointment work system, especially efforts must be made in the following three aspects.

First, to encourage cadres to be truth-seeking and pragmatic, we must establish and improve a set of scientific and reasonable systems, standards and methods, form a scientific evaluation system, comprehensively and accurately evaluate the work performance of cadres, and provide scientific basis for the correct identification and use of cadres. To evaluate the work performance of cadres, we must look at both the results of economic construction and the results of social progress; we must look at both the total amount of economic growth and the benefits received by the people; we must look at both current development and the sustainability of development; we must look at both the achievements of economic and social development and the effectiveness of party building. Evaluating the work performance of cadres requires a thorough and complete method. It is necessary to listen to the opinions of superior leaders as well as the opinions of ordinary cadres and the masses; it is necessary to listen to the opinions within the agency as well as the opinions of service objects and relevant units. Only by comprehensively, objectively and fairly evaluating the work performance of cadres can we further create a good atmosphere of truth-seeking and pragmatism.

The second is to encourage cadres to be truthful and pragmatic. Cadres must be selected and employed according to the principle of having both ability and political integrity and the cadres' work performance, and a correct employment orientation should be formed so that cadres who are diligent in serving the people, truthful and pragmatic can be praised and reused, and cadres who enjoy great achievements and engage in deception can be criticized and punished. We cannot think that as long as cadres do not violate disciplines or laws, having an untrue style is not a big problem. It must be noted that the untruthful work style of cadres will not only cause serious harm to the cause of the party and the people, but also cause serious damage to the relationship between the party and the people. Hard measures must be taken to urge leading cadres to be truth-seeking and pragmatic. Those cadres who cannot be truth-seeking and pragmatic, who are unwilling to correct themselves after organizational education and help, and who have strong public reactions must be resolutely removed from leadership positions. Another issue that deserves our great attention is that some people have been dishonest for a long time, but we failed to discover it when we inspected cadres. As a result, some of them continued to be promoted and reused. Some people in society refer to this phenomenon as "taking up a job while sick" and "promoting while sick." Cadres and the masses responded strongly to this. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. In the final analysis, the work system for selecting and appointing cadres is not perfect yet, and some effective systems are not truly adhered to. How to improve the cadre selection and appointment work system and accurately select and use cadres according to the system is still a major issue that needs to be solved in cadre work. It is necessary to conscientiously implement the "Outline for Deepening the Reform of the Cadre and Personnel System" and the "Regulations on the Selection and Appointment of Party and Government Leading Cadres", focusing on expanding democracy in cadre personnel work, and further promoting the scientific, standardized and procedural aspects of democratic recommendation, organizational inspection and discussion and decision-making. Democratic recommendations should focus on mass participation, listen extensively to the opinions of the masses, and pay attention to public opinion. When organizing inspections, we must adhere to the combination of regular inspections and ordinary inspections, the combination of symposium inspections and field inspections, and the combination of qualitative inspections and quantitative inspections to prevent inspection distortions and inaccuracies. When party organizations discuss and decide on cadre issues, they must strictly follow democratic centralism, improve relevant procedures and rules of procedure, adhere to meeting discussions and decisions, insist on the minority obeying the majority, and never allow one person or a small number of people to have the final say.

The third is to encourage cadres to be truth-seeking and pragmatic. We must strengthen the supervision of cadres, promptly discover and resolutely correct various unhealthy tendencies and wrong practices that go against the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, ensure that cadres fully and accurately implement the party and the country’s policies and work arrangements, and ensure that leading cadres are responsible for their own decisions and various duties. First, efforts should be made to improve the mechanism for detecting problems, expand information sources, and move supervision forward to nip problems in the bud. Second, efforts should be made to improve the mechanism for correcting errors, so that problems discovered can be solved quickly to prevent small mistakes from turning into big ones. The third is to work hard to improve the accountability mechanism. If cadres have problems at work, they will be punished with whatever punishment is needed, and they will never be patronized.