Book: Xi Jinping’s Works and Writings During 1988-1990
Foreword[1]
Xiang Nan[2]
The nine counties and cities of Ningde Prefecture constitute one of Fujian’s more impoverished regions. Even though I visited all of those counties when I worked in Fujian, I always regretted not being able to help Ningde Prefecture more than I was able to at the time.
I was greatly inspired while recently reading some of the speeches and articles written by my colleague Xi Jinping while he was working in Ningde Prefecture. I have also been fortunate enough to revisit several counties in that region lately where I was very excited to see that the people there no longer have to worry about daily necessities, the economy is thriving, and the leadership of the prefectural committee of the Communist Party of China is in high spirits. All of this to a certain extent makes up for what I was unable to accomplish.
During their nearly two years working in Ningde, Xi Jinping and the departments under his leadership took the lead in implementing their “four grassroots initiatives.”[3] Their detailed inspections and informed considerations of Ningde’s own characteristics and history allowed them to make proposals firmly rooted in the local situation. They thoroughly did away with the current bad leadership habits of grandiose, empty, and formulaic speech. Even though after he moved on to new posts from Ningde, there is no doubt that the good conduct Xi Jinping practiced has been an inspiration to his successors, as what exists today comes from the past.
The strongest feature of Xi Jinping’s writing from this period is that it never strays from the focus of economic development. This focus has become even clearer after Deng Xiaoping’s speeches given during his recent south China inspection tour. This was not always the case, however, and for quite a long time some people had different opinions. Prefectures, counties, cities, departments, and enterprises certainly faced daunting workloads, and some people often – consciously or unconsciously – focused their attention on tasks other than economic development in order to showcase their other achievements. Some of these tasks were undoubtedly quite important, but nevertheless we still had to take economic development, and not any other issue, as our ultimate goal. Too many unrelated objectives will necessarily weaken the central focus of economic development. Xi Jinping once saw that a town government office he was visiting had a wall covered in red banners with congratulations for all sorts of accomplishments except for economic development. Xi thought that while it was certainly great to be awarded such honor banners, the leadership could not elevate relatively minor tasks without focusing on the main objective. He called for everyone to join forces to make full use of the geographical advantages Ningde was blessed with and form an “economic chorus,” not another central task. Under his plan, Ningde firmly adhered to the principle of “one central task, two basic points” [4] at all times.
With Ningde’s relative poverty in mind, Xi Jinping repeatedly called for bold reforms and opening up. Even though Ningde is somewhat economically disadvantaged, it lies in a coastal region right next to Taiwan and the Pacific Ocean, and it has one of China’s few deep[1]water ports. Given these features, the fastest way to resolve the persistent problems of lack of funding and talent is to speed up reforms, open up even further, increase domestic cooperation, and absorb foreign investment. We must not shy away from using outside funds and technology to develop our own resources, including Ningde’s unique marine, stone, and lumber resources. This requires greater awareness of reform and opening up among officials and better business sense. No difficulty is too great as long as we are bold enough, try new things, and act first. With bolder reforms and opening up, the economy may pick up even faster, and there will be hope for lifting the region out of poverty and creating wealth.
Xi Jinping has thought deeply and carefully about many issues. He is a strong proponent of the theory of “water droplets drilling through rock” and “letting the weak hatchling be the first to fly” to encourage people to be fearless pioneers and thoroughly do away with formalism and false appearances. He wants officials to truly keep the people in their hearts. We have always believed that poverty is not something to be feared, and we should be most on guard against rushing ahead without thought and spirit. If all we do is want those above us to bail us out and complain about our unfair lot in life, how will we ever be able to eliminate poverty? We must free our mind and get down to real work. Our work must be performed one step at a time, and our experience will accumulate one step at a time. As long as we look to ourselves for the answers and become self-reliant, we will be able to cast off our fetters and move forward with ease. With persistence, even water droplets can drill through stone. Short-term projects with quick results can be great for poverty alleviation, but we cannot let ourselves be content with these and only focus on the short-term. The work of poverty alleviation is a long-term task. Impoverished regions cannot make economic, societal, and environmental advances without the mindset of the Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains[5] and the “foolish” work of trying to tame rivers and mountains, we will never emerge from poverty and backwardness.
The success or failure of all work in the region is determined by the ambitions, thinking, and the working practices of those young officials in important positions who are trying to improve their backward areas. They must fully use their brains, dare to explore, and boldly push their work forward. Even if some ideas are not completely in line with the local situation and some methods may not produce immediate results, we must not be panic. Nobody can be perfect in everything they say or do. In this sense, Xi Jinping is no exception. The officials in our local prefectures, cities, counties, and townships can gain much insight from this pamphlet.
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[1] The text was taken from the foreword to the Chinese edition.
[2] A native of Liancheng, Fujian Province, Xiang Nan (1918-1997) worked to establish revolutionary base areas in the border regions of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces. He arrived at the Yancheng headquarters of the New Fourth Army in the spring of 1941. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, he served as secretary of the Communist Youth League of Anhui Province, secretary of the East China Bureau of the Communist Youth League, secretary of the Youth League Central Committee, the first secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, and the first political commissar of the Provincial Military Region. He served as chairman of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation from 1989 and later became its chief consultant.
[3] The “four grassroots initiatives” encouraged leading officials to investigate complaints and listen to ideas at the grassroots level; to go down to the grassroots to handle official business on the spot; to work with the grassroots to conduct research and investigations; and to go down to the grassroots to publicize the Party’s guiding principles and policies. Xi Jinping strongly advocated for these initiatives in 1988, while he was working in Ningde, Fujian Province.
[4] “One central task, two basic points” are the basis of the Party line to guide policymaking during the primary stage of socialism. “One central task” refers to economic development; “two basic points” refer to the Four Cardinal Principles and the reform and opening-up policy.
[5] Source of English translation: Mao Zedong, “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains,” in Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, vol. 3 (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1965), 321. – Tr.