The Core of the Work-Style Issue Is the Relationship between the Party and the Masses

The Communist Party of China is a proletarian party guided by Marxism. The relationship between the Party and the masses is a fundamental issue at all times and under all circumstances. Serving the people wholeheartedly is the Party’s fundamental purpose. This purpose is embodied in the concrete practice of the Party’s governance of the country, in the Party’s lines, principles, and policies, and inevitably in the Party’s work style. Therefore, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out, “The core of the work-style issue is the relationship between the Party and the masses.” [1]1 A metaphor from Xi Jinping's speech at the closing ceremony of the First Session of the 13th National People's Congress in March 2018, emphasizing that the people are the ultimate judges of the Party's performance. Deeply studying and comprehending this important exposition by General Secretary Xi Jinping is of great significance for profoundly

中国共产党是以马克思主义为指导的无产阶级政党，党同人民群众的关系问题在任何时候、任何情况下都是根本性的问题。全心全意为人民服务是党的根本宗旨，这一宗旨体现在我们党治国理政的具体实践之中，体现在党的路线方针政策之中，同时也必然体现在党的作风之中。因此，习近平总书记深刻指出，“作风问题核心是党同人民群众的关系问题”。深入学习领会习近平总书记这一重要论述，对于深刻理解习近平总书记关于加强党的作风建设的重要论述，不断增强锻造优良作风的政治自觉、思想自觉和行动自觉具有重要意义。

I. Examining and Grasping the Party's Work Style Building within the Relationship between the Party and the Masses

一、在党同人民群众的关系中审视和把握党的作风建设

Our Party is a Party that serves the people wholeheartedly, and all the Party's work is aimed at satisfying and realizing the fundamental interests of the masses. We must proceed from the perspective of the relationship between the Party and the masses, deeply grasp the important requirements for strengthening the Party's work style building in the New Era, and promote new achievements in work style building.

我们党是全心全意为人民服务的党，党的一切工作都是为了满足和实现人民群众的根本利益。我们要从党同人民群众的关系着眼，深刻把握新时代加强党的作风建设的重要要求，推动作风建设取得新成效。

Work style building must take serving the people as its starting point and ultimate goal. Strengthening and improving the Party's work style building is externally manifested in the promotion of fine work styles and the rejection of unhealthy tendencies, while its fundamental requirement is to practice the fundamental tenet of serving the people wholeheartedly, always taking the safeguarding of the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people as the starting point and ultimate goal of the Party's work style building. Adhering to a people-centered approach and serving the people wholeheartedly requires that all Party cadres and members must always bear in mind that "problems in work style are by no means trivial matters." Strengthening the Party's work style building in the New Era is an important requirement put forward based on our Party's fundamental tenet and is an inevitable need for the development of the Party's and the people's cause.

作风建设要以为人民服务为出发点和落脚点。加强和改进党的作风建设，外在体现为对优良作风的发扬和对歪风邪气的摒弃，其根本要求则是践行全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨，始终把维护最广大人民群众的根本利益作为党的作风建设的出发点和落脚点。坚持以人民为中心，全心全意为人民服务，要求广大党员干部必须时刻牢记，“工作作风上的问题绝对不是小事”，新时代加强党的作风建设是基于我们党的根本宗旨而提出的重要要求，是党和人民事业发展的必然需要。

Work style building must allow the masses to participate. Emphasizing mass participation is an important experience of our Party in carrying out all work. It is not only an important manifestation of respecting the principal position of the people but also an inevitable requirement for stimulating the people's initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity, and for gathering and forming a mighty force to jointly advance work. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, "The era is the one that sets the exam questions; we are the ones who answer them; and the people are the ones who grade them." [1]1 A metaphor from Xi Jinping's speech at the closing ceremony of the First Session of the 13th National People's Congress in March 2018, emphasizing that the people are the ultimate judges of the Party's performance. The effectiveness of all the Party's work must ultimately be judged by the people, and the effectiveness of work style building must ultimately be judged by the masses. We must deeply recognize that to strengthen the Party's work style building in the New Era, we must open the door to grasp and improve work styles, give full play to the important role of the masses, emphasize mass participation, accept mass supervision, let the opinions and suggestions of the masses become a powerful driving force for work style building, win the trust of the masses and serve the people with the actual results of work style building, and test the quality of work style building by the satisfaction of the masses.

作风建设要让人民群众参与进来。注重群众参与是我们党开展各项工作的一条重要经验，这既是尊重人民主体地位的重要体现，也是激发人民群众积极性、主动性、创造性，凝聚形成共同推动工作的磅礴之力的必然要求。习近平总书记强调，“时代是出卷人，我们是答卷人，人民是阅卷人”，党的一切工作成效最终要由人民来评判，作风建设成效如何最终必须由人民群众来评判。我们要深刻认识到，新时代加强党的作风建设，必须敞开大门抓作风、改作风，充分发挥人民群众的重要作用，注重群众参与，接受群众监督，让群众的意见建议成为作风建设的强大动力，以作风建设的实际成效取信于民、服务为民，以群众的满意度检验作风建设的成色。

The results of work style building must be perceptible and tangible to the masses. Adhering to the people-centered development philosophy is not an empty slogan; it must be implemented in all decisions, deployments, and practical work. Whether work style building is good or not, the masses have the sharpest eyes and the most genuine feelings. If the masses cannot feel the actual results of work style building, it will be difficult to advance work style building in depth. We must deeply recognize that to strengthen the Party's work style building in the New Era, we must firmly anchor the fundamental standard of people's satisfaction, adhere to "simultaneously establishing and breaking, supporting the upright and eliminating the evil, and continuously consolidating and expanding the results already achieved." [2]2 A formulation from the Central Committee's directives on work style rectification, meaning to simultaneously promote positive norms and eliminate negative ones. We must persistently "break," with the firm will and determination to leave a mark in our work and a print in what we tread on, carry work style building through to the end, and let the masses continuously and truly feel the dissipation of unhealthy tendencies and the filling of clean and upright atmosphere. We must persistently "establish," combining the new situations and new problems of the Party's work style building in the New Era, focusing on the new expectations and new requirements of the masses, strictly and unremittingly grasping prominent issues, and wholeheartedly and with full effort doing practical things, good things, and seeking well-being for the masses, so that the masses can see the tangible results of work style building.

作风建设的成效要让人民群众可感可及。坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，不是一句空洞口号，必须落实到各项决策部署和实际工作中。作风建设好不好，群众的眼睛最雪亮，群众的感受最真实。如果人民群众感受不到作风建设的实际成效，作风建设就难以纵深推进。我们要深刻认识到，新时代加强党的作风建设，要牢牢锚定人民满意这一根本标准，坚持“立破并举、扶正祛邪，不断巩固和扩大已经取得的成果”。要持续“破”，以抓铁有痕、踏石留印的坚定意志与决心，将作风建设进行到底，让人民群众持续、真切地感受到歪风邪气的消散、清风正气的充盈。要长久“立”，结合新时代党的作风建设新情况新问题，着眼人民群众的新期待新要求，对突出问题严抓不放、常抓不懈，用心用情用力为群众办实事、办好事、谋福祉，让群众看到作风建设的实实在在成效。

II. Strengthening Work Style Building Must Grasp the Core Issue of Maintaining Flesh-and-Blood Ties with the Masses

二、加强作风建设必须抓住保持同人民群众的血肉联系这个核心问题

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, "The most important thing in strengthening the work style building of cadres is to grasp the core issue of maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the masses," "Emotion is a very essential thing," and "We must have feelings for the masses, truly regard ourselves as a member of the masses, and regard the affairs of the masses as our own affairs." [3]3 Quoted from Xi Jinping's remarks on cadre work style, stressing the emotional dimension of Party-mass relations. Whether deep feelings can be established with the masses is an important criterion for measuring the effectiveness of the Party's work style building. Only when deep feelings are established with the masses will the masses be willing to speak, offer suggestions, and report problems. This is a precious asset for our Party's long-term governance.

习近平总书记强调，“加强干部作风建设，最重要是要抓住保持同人民群众的血肉联系这个核心问题”，“感情是一个非常本质的东西”，“要对群众有感情，真正把自己当作群众的一员、把群众的事当作自己的事”。能不能同人民群众建立起深厚感情，是衡量党的作风建设成效的重要标准。与人民群众建起深厚感情，人民群众才能有话愿意说，有建议愿意提，有问题愿意反映，这是我们党长期执政的宝贵财富。

Maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the masses requires "getting rid of bureaucratic airs." General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly points out, "The people are the masters of the country, and cadres are the public servants of the people. Public servants, first, must be for the public and cannot have selfish motives; second, must serve and cannot have bureaucratic airs." [4]4 Xi Jinping's definition of the cadre's role as public servant, contrasting "public" (公) with private interests and "servant" (仆) with bureaucratic airs. Currently, problems such as a large "official air," a strong "official flavor," and excessive "official tone" still exist to varying degrees among some Party cadres and members. This runs counter to our Party's fundamental tenet, exposes the deep-seated problems of some Party cadres and members' weak sense of purpose and mass consciousness, and will inevitably seriously damage our Party's image and harm the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses. To strengthen the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses, we must deeply recognize that our Party's roots are in the people, its blood is in the people, and its strength is in the people. The Party's ruling position is endowed by the people. Chinese Communists are the public servants of the people. Any Party cadre or member has only the responsibility and obligation to serve the people. We must bear in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's important requirement that "Communist Party cadres should be 'officials of the common people,' regard themselves as common people, and not act as officials or masters," [5]5 Xi Jinping's instruction to cadres to identify with ordinary people rather than act as privileged officials. consciously abandon "official air," "official flavor," and "official tone," continuously enhance mass feelings and mass concepts, and make the masses willing to approach and get close.

保持同人民群众的血肉联系要“去官气”。习近平总书记深刻指出，“人民是国家的主人，干部是人民的公仆。公仆公仆，一要为公，不能有私心；二要为仆，不能有官气”。当前，“官架”大、“官味”浓、“官腔”足等问题在一些党员干部身上仍不同程度地存在，这与我们党的根本宗旨相悖，暴露了一些党员干部宗旨意识、群众意识淡薄的深层次问题，也必将会严重损害我们党的形象，伤害党同人民群众的血肉联系。加强党同人民群众的血肉联系，就要深刻认识到，我们党的根基在人民、血脉在人民、力量在人民，党的执政地位是人民赋予的，中国共产党人是人民的公仆，任何党员干部，只有为人民服务的责任和义务。要牢记习近平总书记“共产党的干部要坚持当‘老百姓的官’，把自己也当成老百姓，不要做官当老爷”的重要要求，自觉摒弃“官架”“官味”“官腔”，不断增强群众感情、群众观念，使人民群众愿意接近亲近。

Maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the masses requires "staying grounded." "Getting rid of bureaucratic airs" requires even more "staying grounded." In fact, if one only "gets rid of bureaucratic airs" without "staying grounded," there may still be some hidden, mutated forms of formalism and bureaucracy. "Staying grounded" means cultivating the habit of going deep into the grassroots, reality, and the masses, going to places with many problems, contradictions, and challenges to understand the situation, and comprehensively grasp the work dynamics that are "stained with soil, carrying dew, and emitting heat." [6]6 A vivid phrase used in Chinese political discourse to describe firsthand, fresh, and lively information from the grassroots. Cultivating feelings with the masses is not an overnight achievement; it requires long-term and continuous close contact and deepened communication with the masses. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, "We should make more grassroots friends with whom we can speak from the heart." [7]7 Xi Jinping's advice to cadres to cultivate sincere friendships at the grassroots level for honest communication. Party cadres and members must sincerely, not as a "show," go to the masses, truly regard getting close to and going deep among the masses as important work content and work requirements, shake off the bad work style of being detached from and alienated from the masses, continuously stand firm on the mass standpoint, and truly achieve the ability to clearly know what the masses' reaction will be, whether the masses "will cry or laugh," when thinking about problems and making decisions.

保持同人民群众的血肉联系要“接地气”。“去官气”更要“接地气”，实际上，如果仅“去官气”而不“接地气”，仍然可能存在某种隐形、变异的形式主义、官僚主义问题。“接地气”就是要养成深入基层、深入实际、深入群众的习惯，到问题、矛盾和挑战多的地方摸情况，全面把握“沾泥土、带露珠、冒热气”的工作动态。培养与群众的感情，并非一朝一夕之功，而要长期、持续地密切与群众的联系、加深与群众的交流。习近平总书记强调，“要多交几个能说心里话的基层朋友”。党员干部要真诚而不是“作秀”地到群众中去，真正把贴近群众、深入群众当成重要的工作内容与工作要求，摆脱脱离群众、疏远群众的不良作风，不断站稳群众立场，真正做到在想问题、作决策的时候能够清楚地知道群众会有怎样的反应，群众“是哭还是笑”。

Maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the masses requires "cultivating uprightness." Due to limitations such as work tasks and spatiotemporal conditions, it is often difficult for Party cadres and members to maintain close contact and communication with the masses at all times and in all places. Therefore, maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the masses requires us to "cultivate uprightness," continuously strengthen Party spirit cultivation, deeply root the mass viewpoint and the mass line in our minds, and always maintain the ideological consciousness of "thinking together and working together with the people." [8]8 A phrase from Xi Jinping's speeches, calling for unity of thought and action between the Party and the people. "Governance is about uprightness." [9]9 A classical Confucian saying from the Analects (论语), "政者，正也" (Ji Kangzi asked about governance, Confucius replied: "To govern is to be upright"), here applied to Party work style. Whether the broad masses can identify with and support our Party emotionally depends on whether Party cadres and members have maintained close, smooth, and sincere ties with the masses, and even more so on whether Party cadres and members adhere to a fair stance and reflect the people's voices when making decisions and doing work. Only when the broad masses of Party cadres and members are utterly devoted to the cause of the Party and the people, always have the people in their hearts, and use their feelings and strength to solve the most direct and realistic interests of the people that they care about most, can they continuously enhance the people's trust and confidence in the Party.

保持同人民群众的血肉联系要“养正气”。受工作任务、时空条件等的限制，党员干部在很多情况下是难以做到时时处处与群众保持密切联系沟通的。因此，保持同人民群众的血肉联系就要求我们“养正气”，不断加强党性修养，把群众观点、群众路线深深植根于头脑中，时刻保持“同人民想在一起、干在一起”的思想自觉。“政者，正也。”广大人民群众能否从情感上认同我们党、拥护我们党，取决于党员干部是否与人民群众保持了密切、顺畅、真诚的联系，更取决于党员干部作决策、干工作是否坚持了公正立场、反映了人民心声。广大党员干部只有对党和人民事业忠心耿耿，心中始终装着人民，用情用力解决人民群众最关心最直接最现实的利益问题，才能不断增强人民群众对党的信任和信心。

III. Taking the Improvement of Mass Work Ability as an Important Yardstick for Testing the Effectiveness of Work Style Building

三、将提高群众工作能力作为检验作风建设成效的重要标尺

Maintaining close ties with the masses is a distinctive hallmark that distinguishes our Party from other political parties. To strengthen the Party’s work-style building in the New Era and deeply grasp the important thesis that “the core of the work-style issue is the relationship between the Party and the masses,” the vast majority of Party cadres must continuously enhance their ability to work with the masses under the new circumstances. They must deepen their emotional connection with the masses by going deep among them, grasp the masses’ pulse, serve the masses with precision, and carry out work that reaches the hearts of the people, so that the masses both feel that “the work style is good” and experience that “the capability is strong.”

密切联系群众是我们党区别于其他政党的显著标志。加强新时代党的作风建设，深刻把握“作风问题核心是党同人民群众的关系问题”的重要论述，广大党员干部必须不断提升新形势下群众工作能力，在深入群众中增进群众感情、把准群众脉搏、精准服务群众，把工作做到人民群众心坎上，既让群众感受到“作风好”，又让群众体会到“能力强”。

Enhance the ability to conduct investigation and research. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out, “Economic development and improvements in the people’s living standards do not mean that the Party’s ties with the people have become closer or will necessarily become closer; sometimes, on the contrary, they become more distant.” [10]10 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference on the Party’s Mass Line Education and Practice Activities,” 18 June 2013. The key to effectively preventing and resolving this problem of detachment from the masses lies in cultivating the habit of investigation and research and enhancing the ability to conduct it. The vast majority of Party cadres must frequently, extensively, and deeply carry out investigation and research, striving to grasp more of the real situation and gain a deeper understanding of objective laws. Investigation and research must never become formalistic; it is a work whole composed of both “investigation” and “research.” In the process of going deep among the masses to conduct investigation and research, the vast majority of Party cadres must pay attention to “investigation,” that is, to ascertain and accurately grasp the actual situation and the wishes and demands of the masses; they must also pay attention to “research,” that is, to apply the effort of “discarding the false and retaining the true, discarding the rough and retaining the essential,” [11]11 A classical Chinese expression from Han Yu’s (768–824) essay “Jinxue Jie” (Explanation of Advancing Learning), advocating the rigorous processing of raw material to extract truth. to analyze and study the actual situation from one point to another and from the surface to the core, to find the essence of things and the methods for solving problems. Only in this way can investigation and research shake off formalism and bureaucracy and achieve practical results, and only then is it an important manifestation of practicing our Party’s fine work style.

提高调查研究能力。习近平总书记深刻指出，“经济发展了，人民生活水平提高了，不等于党同人民的联系就更加密切了、必然密切了，有时候反而是疏远了”。有效防范和破解这种脱离群众的问题，关键在于养成调查研究习惯、提升调查研究能力。广大党员干部要经常、广泛、深入开展调查研究，努力把真实情况掌握得更多一些、把客观规律认识得更透一些。调查研究千万不能搞形式主义，它是由“调查”与“研究”共同构成的工作整体，在深入群众开展调查研究的过程中，广大党员干部既要注重“调查”，即摸清摸准实际情况和群众的愿望与要求；也要注重“研究”，即下一番“去伪存真、去粗取精”的功夫，由此及彼、由表及里地分析研究实际情况，找到事物本质和解决问题的办法。唯有如此，调查研究才能摆脱形式主义、官僚主义从而取得实效，才是践行我们党优良作风的重要体现。

Enhance the ability to guide public opinion. Under conditions of profound development in network information technology, the ways in which the masses receive information, think about problems, and express their demands have undergone profound changes. Some problems of the “Four Forms of Decadence” [12]12 The “Four Forms of Decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance, which were the main targets of the Party’s mass line education and practice campaign launched in 2013. are amplified by online public opinion and can easily evolve into network-wide public sentiment. While bringing pressure from public opinion, this also becomes an important factor affecting the relationship between the Party and the masses and between cadres and the masses. For the vast majority of Party cadres, it is necessary to deeply grasp the characteristics and laws of the emergence and evolution of online public opinion, always keep the string of online public opinion risk tightly taut, actively respond to public sentiment with an attitude of being responsible to the people and to society, correctly guide social opinion, effectively solve problems, and resolve contradictions. They must enhance their ability to deal with the media, be adept at using the media to propagate policy propositions, understand social conditions and public opinion, and discover contradictions and problems. They should also, by drawing on people and events around them, explain problems clearly and thoroughly, thereby achieving the effect of guiding social sentiment, uniting the masses, and promoting practical work.

提高舆论引导能力。在网络信息技术深刻发展的条件下，人民群众信息接受方式、思考问题方式、诉求表达方式发生深刻变化。一些“四风”问题经由网络舆论放大，容易演化为全网性舆情，在带来舆论压力的同时，更成为影响党群干群关系的重要因素。对于广大党员干部来说，必须深刻把握网络舆论发生、演变的特点和规律，时刻紧绷网络舆论风险这根弦，本着对人民负责、对社会负责的态度积极应对舆情，正确引导社会舆论，有效解决问题、化解矛盾。要提升和媒体打交道的本领，善于运用媒体宣讲政策主张、了解社情民意、发现矛盾问题，并结合身边人、身边事把问题讲清说透，从而实现引导社会情绪、团结人民群众、推动实际工作的效果。

Enhance the ability to innovate in work. With the development and changes in the conditions of the times, the social structure has undergone significant changes. Notable differences in region, income, industry, and other aspects have led to greater diversification and individualization of the interests, wishes, and demands of the masses. The targets of all work have become more diverse, the content more varied, the environment more complex, and the requirements more pragmatic. How to better meet the various practical needs of the masses places higher demands on the work innovation ability of the vast majority of Party cadres. The vast majority of Party cadres must enhance their work innovation ability, continuously expand work ideas, innovate work models, accurately identify the multifaceted, multi-level, and diverse wishes and demands of the masses, discern the various needs of the masses in complex and intricate environments, use innovative ideas and measures to solve the most urgent and anticipated problems of the masses, flexibly respond to constantly changing new situations, and ensure that the masses truly benefit.

提高工作创新能力。随着时代条件的发展变化，社会结构发生明显改变，地域、收入、行业等方面的显著差异导致人民群众的利益、愿望与诉求更加多元化、个性化，各项工作的对象更加多元、内容更加多样、环境更加复杂、要求更加务实。如何更好地满足人民群众的各方面实际需求，对广大党员干部的工作创新能力提出更高要求。广大党员干部要提升工作创新能力，不断拓展工作思路、创新工作模式，精准识别人民群众多方面、多层次、多样化的愿望与要求，在错综复杂的环境中洞悉人民群众的各方面需求，用创新的思路和举措解决群众最紧迫、最期待的问题，灵活应对不断变化的新情况，让人民群众真正受益。

(The author is a Deputy Director and Researcher at the Research Office of the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance).)

（作者系中央党校（国家行政学院）研究室 副主任、研究员）

Online Editor: Ma Jingren

网络编辑：马京仁