Chairman Xi has emphasized that at the very outset of the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, strict oversight hard rules (从严监管硬规矩) must be established, with close attention to key links such as the flow of funds, the exercise of power, and quality control; oversight of major projects must be strengthened; civil-military integration supervision (军地融合监督) must be reinforced; and construction must proceed on the premise of oversight.
In a certain brigade of the 71st Group Army, a 'List of Measures for Regulating the Orderly Operation of Sector Fields (《规范行业领域有序运行措施清单》)' has become an important institutional regulation for standardizing the exercise of power and combating new-type corruption (新型腐败) and hidden corruption (隐性腐败). In the course of implementing this regulation, Ding Shijie, chief of the brigade's discipline inspection and supervision section, has developed a number of reflections.
— Host: Jin Yalan
One List Gives Oversight 'Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils'
— An Interview with Ding Shijie, Chief of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Section of a Certain Brigade of the 71st Group Army
■ Li Lin, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Liu Yihan
[Caption] The 'Rules of Conduct of the Anyuan Road and Mine Workers' Consumer Cooperative' formulated by the Chinese Communist Party in 1923 effectively prevented the occurrence of economic problems. Archival photograph.
Question: Chief Ding, what was the original intent behind your promotion of the 'List of Measures for Regulating the Orderly Operation of Sector Fields'?
Answer: I don't know whether you have heard this story from Party history — the Anyuan Road and Mine Workers' Club, established in 1922, was at the time the largest industrial trade union organization in the country and a banner of the workers' movement. But in the course of its development, the club gradually exhibited phenomena such as chaotic financial management, misappropriation of workers' property, and failure to observe order. Liu Shaoqi, Mao Zemin, and others acutely recognized the seriousness of these problems. In 1923, the Anyuan Party organization conducted an accounting review of the club, carried out a comprehensive rectification, and also formulated 17 articles of rules of conduct, implemented a work reporting system, and built a system of checks and supervision over the exercise of power.
Only when the exercise of power has rules to follow and oversight has a basis to rely upon can the space for corruption be compressed at the source. Our unit has many posts that manage funds, materiel, and projects; areas such as expenditure use, materiel procurement, and military supply and energy are key points in the exercise of power and high-incidence points for new-type corruption and hidden corruption. In the past, when carrying out discipline inspection and supervision work, we frequently encountered the difficulties of 'problems hidden deep, methods constantly changing, and boundaries impossible to identify.' For this reason, we took the lead in sorting out integrity risks (廉洁风险) across sector fields, clarifying blurred boundaries of power, pinpointing concealed risk points, and tightening loose oversight processes, compiling and forming this list.
In a word, no matter how small the power, it must be controlled; no matter how small the loophole, it must be sealed tight. Giving the system a pair of 'fiery eyes and golden pupils' — that is the original intent behind our promotion of the 'List of Measures for Regulating the Orderly Operation of Sector Fields.'
Question: Concretely speaking, how does one make hidden problems 'visible' and new-type methods 'exposed'?
Answer: If summarized in three phrases: clear rights and responsibilities (权责清晰), closed-loop processes (流程闭环), and penetrating oversight (监督穿透). We broke down nine key fields — materiel procurement, expense reimbursement, medical and health care, routine oversight, and others — into more than 50 specific links, with each link specifying 'who handles it, how it is handled, and what may not be done,' standardizing discretionary authority, reducing opportunities for power to create and seek rent (设租寻租), getting serious in 'investigation,' and showing real results in 'governance,' leaving those with ill intent no opportunity to exploit.
For a period of time, grass-roots company mess procurement had the problem of 'supply by acquaintances, prices opaque.' The list specified 'joint acceptance by multiple persons, complete warehouse ledgers, weekly updated public disclosure, and monthly inspection and verification,' so that every expenditure and every acceptance has a traceable record. Now, the cook squad leader, the supply clerk, the kitchen duty officer, and the atmosphere supervisor (风气监督员) jointly sign for confirmation, and officers and soldiers can view procurement details via procurement tablets. In this way, no matter how concealed the irregularity or how novel the method, none can escape the 'fiery eyes and golden pupils' of the system.
Question: In the course of implementing this regulation, might some people feel that there are too many rules and restrictions and that getting things done is troublesome?
Answer: We have rigorously enforced implementation, letting iron rules exert force and prohibitions carry authority, proving through facts that only by clearly defining what may be done and what may not be done can one effectively prevent power from overstepping, falling short, or going astray.
Last year, a subordinate unit of our brigade carried out barracks renovation and refurbishment. After the project bidding concluded, the handling personnel originally intended to proceed through successive levels of approval and process things quickly. We promptly reminded them that the list specifies that for bidding projects above 200,000 yuan, department leaders and headquarters section chiefs must each lead relevant personnel in a joint review. As a result, they discovered that the contents of two sets of bid documents were abnormally identical, presenting an extremely high risk of collusive bidding (围标串标); after verification from multiple sides, the process was decisively halted. This handling officer remarked with feeling that the added joint review step appeared to increase workload but in fact guarded against a far greater hidden danger. Only when all departments form the habit of 'handling matters according to the list and exercising power according to the rules' can headquarters work run more smoothly, officers and soldiers feel more at ease, and the atmosphere at the grass-roots level be more wholesome.
Question: Combating new-type corruption and hidden corruption is a long-term task. How can sustained, long-term force be applied?
Answer: I believe that anti-corruption is not 'a gust of wind' but a 'protracted war.' One list controls petty and micro-level power (小微权力) and safeguards the foundation of army-building (强军根基). We have driven the list into coordinated linkage with the discipline committee's oversight responsibilities and sector management responsibilities — major matters require mandatory review of list implementation; sensitive posts require mandatory integrity reminders based on the list; audits and inspections require mandatory verification of list implementation effectiveness. We persist in investigating both bribe-taking and bribe-giving together, and in addressing both traditional corruption and new-type corruption together; we have zero tolerance for problems that cross red lines and breach bottom lines — discover one case, investigate and handle one case, report and circulate one case — forming a powerful deterrent.
In the next step, we also plan to explore establishing a dynamic update mechanism, keeping close watch on new problems and new trends, promptly supplementing provisions for hidden risk prevention and control, ensuring that oversight measures stay ahead of corrupt methods, and achieving full coverage.