Practicing a Correct Outlook on Political Performance Requires Skill at “Playing the Piano”

Being adept at “playing the piano” is an important methodology by which our Party applies dialectical materialism to resolve contradictions. It requires both emphasizing the overall situation and grasping it, as well as needing coordinated development and holistic advancement. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed: “All regions and departments must uphold a systems concept, consciously act within the overall situation, and play the game of chess well across the entire country. They must be adept at ‘playing the piano’: when planning for one domain, they must not forget the whole; when basing themselves on the present, they must not ignore the long term; when highlighting priorities, they must not neglect the general.” To establish and practice a correct outlook on political performance, it is necessary to firmly entrench the thinking of a nationwide game of chess. Under the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, we must closely integrate “what one domain can contribute” with “what the overall situation requires,” achieving both adding luster to one’s own domain and contributing splendor to the whole.

善于“弹钢琴”，是我们党运用唯物辩证法解决矛盾的重要方法论，既要求讲大局、抓大局，又需要协调发展、整体推进。习近平总书记强调：“各地区各部门要坚持系统观念，自觉在大局下行动，下好全国一盘棋。要善于‘弹钢琴’，谋划一域不能忘记整体，立足当前不能无视长远，突出重点不能忽略一般。”树立和践行正确政绩观，必须树牢全国一盘棋思想，在党中央集中统一领导下，把“一域之所能”与“全局之所需”紧密结合起来，做到既为一域增光、又为全局添彩。

Being adept at “playing the piano” requires highlighting the main theme, with clear priorities and a varied rhythm. Only in this way can one avoid “playing the piano chaotically,” without method or beat. To accurately grasp the main theme, one must thoroughly understand the major policies and decisions of the Party Central Committee, always pay attention to what the Party Central Committee cares about and emphasizes, and deeply comprehend what constitutes the Party’s and the nation’s most important interests and what stance most needs to be firmly upheld. One who does not plan for the whole is inadequate to plan for a part. Comrade Mao Zedong once said: “Once one understands the things of the whole, one is better able to use the things of the part.” [1]1 The “15th Five-Year Plan” refers to China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, covering the years 2026–2030. Planning for one domain from the perspective of the whole, and serving the whole with one domain, requires Party cadres to calculate more on the big abacus and the big account, and less on the small abacus and the small account, truly integrating the work of their region and department into the grand chessboard of the Party’s and the nation’s cause. In reality, some Party cadres care only about the interests of their own locality, unit, or individual. While verbally shouting resolute implementation of the Party Central Committee’s decisions and deployments, in action they cut corners, engage in “the higher authorities have policies, the lower levels have countermeasures,” or even use the pretext of “adapting measures to local conditions” to give the green light to “going their own way,” sacrificing the overall interest for the sake of local interest. Tracing this to its root, it is departmentalism and protectionism at work, and a dislocation in the outlook on political performance. These problems must be resolutely prevented and overcome; no discounting, selective implementation, or flexible adaptation is permitted in carrying out the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee.

善于“弹钢琴”，要突出主旋律，主次分明、高低错落，唯有如此，才不会出现毫无章法、毫无节拍的“乱弹琴”。准确把握主旋律，必须吃透党中央大政方针和决策部署，时刻关注党中央在关心什么、强调什么，深刻领会什么是党和国家最重要的利益、什么是最需要坚定维护的立场。不谋全局者，不足谋一域。毛泽东同志曾说：“懂得了全局性的东西，就更会使用局部性的东西”。既从全局谋划一域，又以一域服务全局，要求党员干部多打大算盘、算大账，少打小算盘、算小账，真正把地区和部门的工作融入党和国家事业大棋局。现实中，一些党员干部只顾本地、本单位或个人利益，嘴上喊着坚决贯彻落实党中央决策部署，行动上却打擦边球，搞“上有政策、下有对策”，甚至打着“因地制宜”的幌子为“自行其是”开绿灯，为了局部利益不惜牺牲全局利益。究其根源，是本位主义、保护主义在作祟，是政绩观出现了错位。必须坚决防止和克服这些问题，决不允许在贯彻执行党中央决策部署上打折扣、做选择、搞变通。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping, when inspecting localities, has often exhorted the establishment of the thinking of a nationwide game of chess. For example, during an inspection in Qinghai, he affirmed local efforts to “build the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into a highland of ecological civilization,” and urged “to focus on the overall national development situation and fully consider Qinghai’s unique resource endowments.” During an inspection in the Yellow River basin, he stressed that “development along the Yellow River must have a sense of the overall situation, considered from the national and overall perspective.” At this year’s Two Sessions [2] when participating in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation, he emphasized that “only when major economic provinces have a stable development foundation and strong ability to withstand external shocks can they support the stability of the national economic chessboard,” and so on. This profoundly enlightens us: being adept at “playing the piano” requires attention to finger coordination, adopting the most appropriate actions in the process of balancing and holistically advancing, and harmonizing the relationships between the part and the whole, the present and the long term, and priorities and non-priorities.

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记到地方考察，常会叮嘱树立全国一盘棋思想。比如，在青海考察时，对当地努力“把青藏高原建设成为生态文明的高地”的做法予以肯定，叮嘱“要着眼全国发展大局，充分考虑青海独特的资源禀赋”；在黄河流域考察时，强调“黄河沿岸的发展一定要有大局意识，站在国家的、全局的角度考虑”；在今年两会参加江苏代表团审议时，强调“经济大省发展底盘稳、抵御外部冲击能力强，才能支撑全国经济大盘稳定”；等等。这深刻启示我们，善于“弹钢琴”，要注重指法配合，在统筹兼顾、整体推进，协调好局部和全局、当前和长远、重点和非重点的关系中采取最合适的行动。

Regarding balancing and overall consideration, General Secretary Xi Jinping once used the metaphor of “spinning plates” to describe governance: “It

关于统筹兼顾，习近平总书记曾以“转盘子”比喻治国理政：“就像表演转盘子一样，一次转十几、二十个盘子，哪个转得差不多了就赶紧加力，哪个都不能趴下来。”当前，发展环境越是发生深刻复杂变化，各项战略部署越是任重道远，就越要控制好“转盘子”的力度和方向，才能在多重挑战中保持定力、赢得主动。统筹兼顾不能“眉毛胡子一把抓”“东一榔头西一棒槌”，要审大小而图之，酌缓急而布之，也就是要坚持两点论和重点论相统一，抓主要矛盾和矛盾的主要方面，抓重要领域和关键环节。越是复杂的工作越要抓到点子上，找准、牵住“牛鼻子”，往往有“四两拨千斤”的效果，起到“一子落而满盘活”的作用。

Being adept at “playing the piano” is an important component and an inevitable requirement for establishing and practicing a correct outlook on political performance. It is necessary to resolutely prevent and overcome departmentalism, correctly understand the overall situation, consciously submit to the overall situation, and resolutely uphold the overall situation, so as to keep the whole in mind while planning well for one’s own domain, and to implement the various decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee more resolutely and effectively, thereby promoting new progress in all work during the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan [1]1 The “15th Five-Year Plan” refers to China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, covering the years 2026–2030..

善于“弹钢琴”，是树立和践行正确政绩观的重要内容、必然要求。必须坚决防止和克服本位主义，正确认识大局、自觉服从大局、坚决维护大局，做到胸有全局、谋好一域，更加坚决有力地贯彻落实党中央各项决策部署，推动“十五五”时期各项工作取得新进展。