Whether Political Performance Is Good Depends on the People’s Reputation

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The key criterion for measuring whether a cadre’s performance is good lies in whether the common people’s reputation is good.” A good reputation is never a cadre’s “self-praise,” but rather the weighty and well-founded evaluation of the people, the recognition and praise that come from the hearts of ordinary citizens. Today, the people of Lankao in Henan “think of Jiao Yulu when they see the paulownia trees,” the people of Dongshan in Fujian “first pay respects to Lord Gu, then worship their ancestors,” and the people of Baoshan in Yunnan still sing the ballad “Yang Shanzhou, Yang Shanzhou, the old ox pulls the cart without turning back.” This is the good reputation of the people, the vivid and weighty annotation of cadres’ political performance.

习近平总书记指出：“衡量干部业绩好不好，关键要看老百姓口碑好不好。”好口碑从来不是领导干部的“自我标榜”，而是人民群众掷地有声的中肯评价，是老百姓发自内心的认同和赞扬。今天，河南兰考人民“看到泡桐树，想起焦裕禄”，福建东山百姓“先祭谷公，后拜祖宗”，云南保山群众依然唱着“杨善洲，杨善洲，老牛拉车不回头”的歌谣，这就是人民群众的好口碑，是领导干部政绩生动、厚重的注脚。

“The key criterion for measuring whether a cadre’s performance is good lies in whether the common people’s reputation is good” reflects the deep value orientation of performance evaluation. A good reputation stems from cadres’ consistent adherence to the principle that the people are the masters of the country and that power originates from the people, transforming the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee into tangible benefits for the people. Every implementation of a people-benefiting measure continuously strengthens the people’s heartfelt support for the Party’s leadership. A good reputation stems from cadres’ consistent adherence to the people-centered development thought, responding to the people’s aspiration for a better life, and striving to contribute to realizing, safeguarding, and developing the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people. A good reputation stems from cadres’ holding fast to the ardent original aspiration of caring for the masses and being attached to the people, keeping the people’s safety and hardships in mind, shouldering them, and putting them into action. The people’s reputation reflects cadres’ sense of mission and responsibility in achieving political performance for the people and through solid work; it is the “touchstone” for testing political performance.

“衡量干部业绩好不好，关键要看老百姓口碑好不好”，反映政绩评价的深层价值取向。好口碑源于领导干部始终坚持人民是国家的主人、权力来源于人民的理念，将党中央决策部署转化为惠民实绩。每一项惠民举措的落地，都持续厚植人民群众对党的领导的衷心拥护。好口碑源于领导干部始终坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，顺应人民对美好生活的向往，努力为实现好、维护好、发展好最广大人民根本利益作出贡献。好口碑源于领导干部秉持心系群众、情系百姓的炽热初心，把群众的安危冷暖记在心里、扛在肩上、落在行动上。人民群众的口碑，映照出领导干部为人民出政绩、以实干出政绩的使命担当，是检验政绩的“试金石”。

A good reputation is not shouted out but achieved through action. In February of this year, a rose named “Jiaolong” was sent from Yunnan to the Jiaolong Hall of the Dengta Educated Youth Museum in Zhaosu County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, where people used the flower to express their remembrance of He Jiaolong. He Jiaolong took root at the grassroots, cared for the masses, and turned “internet traffic” into an “increment” for people’s livelihoods, making tangible contributions to Xinjiang’s cultural tourism development and comprehensive rural revitalization. She promoted the construction of the “Taste Xinjiang” regional public brand, united caring individuals to donate money and goods to people in difficulty, and despite falling from a horse multiple times, persisted in promoting Zhaosu on horseback. He Jiaolong used solid actions to solve the problem of unsold agricultural products for the masses, achieving real and solid performance that benefited the people. How could such a cadre not be remembered with gratitude by the masses? True political performance lies not in temporary data, but in the people’s word-of-mouth transmission. Cadres must always remember that “Chinese-path modernization puts people’s livelihoods first,” adopt a nail-spirit approach to genuine and solid work, promote the implementation and effectiveness of one livelihood matter after another, gradually solve one livelihood difficulty after another, and strive to properly handle the people’s worries and troubles. Taking how many good deeds and practical matters have been done for the people as an important criterion for testing political performance, persist in adopting concrete measures and seeking practical results, and consciously discard the practices of flashiness, opportunism, and data falsification.

好口碑不是喊出来的，而是干出来的。今年2月，命名为“娇龙”的月季从云南被送到新疆伊犁哈萨克自治州昭苏县灯塔知青馆娇龙厅，人们以花朵寄托对贺娇龙的怀念。贺娇龙扎根基层、心系群众，把“流量”变成民生“增量”，为新疆文旅发展、乡村全面振兴作出了实实在在的贡献。她推进“品味新疆”区域公用品牌建设，联合爱心人士为困难群众捐款捐物，尽管多次坠马依然坚持骑马宣传昭苏。贺娇龙以扎扎实实的行动为群众解决农产品滞销的烦恼，干出了惠及群众的真业绩、实业绩，这样的干部怎么能不被群众感念？真正的政绩不在一时的数据，而是百姓的口碑相传。领导干部要始终牢记“中国式现代化，民生为大”，以钉钉子精神真抓实干，推动一件件民生实事落地见效、一个个民生难题逐步破解，着力解决好老百姓的操心事、烦心事。把为人民群众办了多少好事实事作为检验政绩的重要标准，坚持出实招求实效，自觉摒弃华而不实、投机取巧、数据造假的那一套。

Temporary praise is easy to obtain, but a lasting reputation is hard to retain. Whether a reputation is good or bad is convincing only after being tested by history. The “15th Five-Year Plan” outline, in the special chapter “Promoting the Construction of Livable, Workable, and Harmonious Villages,” proposes “learning from and applying the experience of the ‘Ten Million Project’.” [1]1 The “Ten Million Project” (千万工程) refers to Zhejiang Province’s “Project of a Thousand Villices Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Rectification,” launched in 2003, aimed at improving the rural living environment and promoting comprehensive rural development. Zhejiang’s “Ten Million Project” started with improving the living environment, persisted for more than 20 years with unremitting effort, advanced in depth in practice, transformed the beautiful environment into a beautiful economy, upgraded beautiful villages to harmonious villages, continuously accumulated small victories into big victories, and made important explorations for promoting comprehensive rural revitalization and building a beautiful China. Only by always adhering to the original aspiration of serving the people, making persistent efforts, and being good at achieving success can a lasting good reputation be obtained. Those applause won through showmanship, currying favor, and clever tricks cannot withstand the tempering of time and do not count as true political performance. Cadres must cultivate the realm and responsibility of “success does not have to be in my term, but success must have my contribution,” not only grasping visible, tangible, and touchable achievements that benefit the people, but also being willing to do the hidden work that consolidates the foundation and benefits the long term. Do not engage in flash-in-the-pan services, do not produce ephemeral articles, truly proceed from the overall situation of the Party’s and the state’s cause and from the long-term interests of the people, and grasp firmly to the end and achieve results on matters that have been correctly identified. Even if results cannot be seen during one’s own term, one must advance step by step with a high sense of historical responsibility, laying the foundation for the long-term development of a region or locality.

一时的好评易得，长久的口碑难留。口碑是好是坏，经过历史的检验才有说服力。“十五五”规划纲要在“推进宜居宜业和美乡村建设”专章中提出“学习运用‘千万工程’经验”。浙江“千万工程”从整治人居环境抓起，20多年持之以恒、锲而不舍，并在实践中向纵深推进，把美丽环境转化为美丽经济，使美丽乡村升级为和美乡村，不断积小胜为大胜，为推进乡村全面振兴、建设美丽中国作出了重要探索。只有始终坚守为民初心，久久为功、善作善成，才能获得持久的好口碑。那些靠作秀、取宠、讨巧博取的掌声，经不起岁月的磨砺，算不得真正的政绩。领导干部要涵养“功成不必在我、功成必定有我”的境界与担当，不仅抓实可见可感可触及、利民惠民的显功，还要甘做夯实根基、有利长远的潜功。不搞一阵风式的服务，不做昙花一现的文章，真正从党和国家事业发展全局、从人民群众长远利益出发，对看准了的事一抓到底、抓出成效。即使不能在自己任上看到成效，也要以高度的历史责任感一步步推进，为一地一域的长远发展打下基础。

The myriad threads of “governance” ultimately boil down to the affairs of millions of households; the countless forms of “achievements” ultimately rest on the well-being of the masses. The era sets the exam questions, we are the answer sheets, and the people are the graders. Without the recognition of the people, no matter how splendid the political performance, it is self-serving talk. We must persist in creating political performance for the people, relying on the people, and having it judged by the people, work in a genuine and solid manner with persistent effort, pursue the people’s good reputation, and truly write our political performance in the hearts of the people.

千头万绪的“政”，说到底是千家万户的事；千形百态的“绩”，落脚点都是群众的福祉。时代是出卷人，我们是答卷人，人民是阅卷人。没有人民群众的认可，再华丽的政绩，也是自说自话。我们要坚持创造政绩为了人民、依靠人民、由人民来评判，真抓实干、久久为功，追求群众的好口碑，真正把政绩书写在人民群众心中。