The CPC Central Committee has decided to encourage investigation and research throughout the Party as an important part of subject education throughout the Party, so as to make a good start in comprehensively building a modern socialist country. The leading Party group of the Ministry of Finance is deeply aware that investigation and research is the basis of planning and the way to success. Without investigation, there is no right to speak, let alone decision-making power. From the perspective of bearing on the long-term governance of the Party, the country's long-term peace and stability, and the people's well-being, we should thoroughly study and implement the General Secretary's important discussion on investigation and research, persist in using the Party's innovative theories to study new situations and solve new problems, and constantly gain new understanding of the law.

1. Deeply study and grasp the General Secretary's important discussion on investigation and research, and have a deep understanding of the great significance and practical requirements of investigation and research in the rejuvenation of the whole Party

The General Secretary pointed out that investigation and research is the Party's heirloom and the basic skill for doing all its work well. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with the General Secretary at its core has attached great importance to investigation and research, taking in-depth investigation and research as the "first move" to carry out work, introduce policies and formulate strategies. The Leading Party Group of the Ministry of Finance has thoroughly studied and understood the core gist of the General Secretary's important discourse on investigation and research, fully realized the extreme importance of investigation and research, and earnestly regarded investigation and research as the political requirement and the starting point of work.

 The general Secretary pointed out that investigation and research is not only a working method, but also a major issue affecting the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people. It is not abstract, but concrete. It should be reflected in the practical actions taken to implement the important directives and instructions of the General Secretary and the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, and in the concrete results achieved in all fiscal work. We must always make it our primary political task to resolutely implement the important directives and instructions of the General Secretary and the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee. We must uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership over public finance. We must focus on fully implementing the Party's 20 National guidelines and promoting high-quality development. We will make fiscal macro-control more effective and ensure that all plans made at the Party's 20th National Congress are translated into action and results are seen.

 The General Secretary's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was formed in the course of a great struggle with many new historical features. It has achieved major breakthroughs in development theory and practice, and is of great guiding significance for solving the difficulties in China's development today, enhancing the driving force for development, and building on its advantages. We must always unify our thinking, will, and action with the General Secretary's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, keep our thinking on a steady course in our investigations and research, and deepen our understanding of the Party's innovative theories. We will continue to improve our ability to use scientific theories to guide us in responding to major challenges, fending off major risks, overcoming major obstacles, resolving major conflicts, and solving major problems. We will effectively guard against and defuse local government debt risks, ensure the "Three guarantees" for community-level governments, and enforce strict financial discipline.

 The general Secretary pointed out that strengthening study and investigation is an important way to improve the ability and level of economic work. We need to improve our ability to conduct research, be problem-oriented, get a thorough understanding of the real situation, pool the wisdom of all, and propose solutions so that our countermeasures and suggestions are well targeted and to the point. We must take thorough investigation and research as our basic skills. We must always focus on the implementation of the Party's theories, lines, principles and policies as well as the major decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee. We must focus on key tasks for economic and social development such as increasing the effectiveness of proactive fiscal policies, improving preferential tax and fee policies, vigorously optimizing the structure of expenditure, and deepening the fiscal and tax systems. We will exercise our strong feet, vision, brain power and pen power to ensure that all measures for financial work are in line with the reality of the community and the will of the people, effectively break through blocking points and solve problems, and translate the results of investigations and research into actual results for advancing financial work.

2. Firmly grasp the overall requirements of Daxing investigation and research, and earnestly unify thoughts and actions into the decision-making and deployment of the CPC Central Committee on Daxing investigation and research

Daxing investigation and research is a distinctive feature of studying and implementing the General Secretary's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The Leading Party Group of the Ministry of Finance has a deep understanding that it must firmly grasp the general requirements of themed education of "learning thoughts, strengthening Party spirit, emphasizing practice and making new achievements", adhere to the integration of learning, thinking and application, knowledge, faith and practice, and carry out research on deep-seated key issues related to financial reform and development, so as to promote the implementation of the important instructions of the General Secretary and the decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee.

(1) Upholding the Party's mass Line In carrying out investigations and studies, we must adhere to the Party's mass line, learn from the people with an open mind, be genuinely responsible to the people, serve them enthusiastically, accept their supervision with sincerity, and truly identify problems, report their opinions, and sum up experience. We must ensure that public finance is procured from and used by the people, maintain their position, take the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the starting point and ultimate goal of our public finance work, conduct in-depth research on the most direct and realistic interests of the people, especially on employment, education, medical care, childcare, elderly care, housing and other pressing and urgent issues that they are most concerned about. We will promote common prosperity and improve people's well-being, consolidate and expand our achievements in poverty alleviation, narrow the development gap between urban and rural areas and between regions, and narrow the income distribution gap, ensure and improve people's wellbeing through development, and ensure that the fruits of modernization benefit all people in a more equitable manner.

(2) Seek truth from facts. To carry out investigation and research, we must establish a truth-seeking and pragmatic style. Whether we can and dare to seek truth from facts in investigation and research is not only a matter of knowledge level, but also a matter of Party spirit. Only by forgoing public and putting the interests of the Party and the people first can we truly seek truth from facts. In the new era and on a new journey, we need to make public finance better serve China's modernization drive, comprehensively modernize public finance management, and give full play to the support and guarantee for fiscal and tax reform. These are all topics we must answer under the new historical conditions. Based on the reality of China's economic and social development, research efforts should be made in the pursuit of depth, truth, detail, accuracy, and efficiency, adhere to listening, seeing, and feeling, remove the crude and select the essence, remove the false and discard the true, from here to there, from the outside and inside, research and formulate financial policies in line with China's national conditions and social development, and put forward targeted measures and countermeasures.

(3) Adhere to the problem-oriented. To carry out investigation and research, we must have a clear purpose and aim at and confront the problems. We should try our best to take the initiative in our research activities. We should not just follow the "prescribed route". We should also visit some unplanned places and conduct random research without any notice or arrangement to see the main information and key issues concerning the policies on tax and fee reductions, the efficiency of the use of government funds, the improvement of the modern budget system, and the optimization of the tax structure. Look at the implementation of fiscal policy in the process of plugging points, bruising points, pain points and so on, objective, accurate, thorough understanding of the real situation, in order to better improve the work, scientific decision-making. Only by carrying out in-depth investigation and research, truly discovering and solving problems, can we truly grasp the context, find the law, and constantly create a new situation for the development of financial undertakings.

(4) Persevere in overcoming difficulties. In carrying out investigations and studies, we must carry forward the spirit of struggle, strengthen our ability to fight, have the courage to wade through dangerous shoals and solve difficult problems, advance when confronted with difficulties, and turn the results of investigations and studies into tangible achievements in advancing our work and overcoming difficulties. We are engaged in a great undertaking unprecedented in history. An unstable, uncertain and unpredictable external environment has become the norm. The triple pressures of shrinking domestic demand, supply shock and weakening expectations remain large. In the face of new developments, new tasks, and emerging problems, we must focus on implementing the new vision for development, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development, and promote self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology. Expanding domestic demand, deepening supply-side structural reform, building a modernized industrial system, implementing the "Two unwavering" policy, attracting and utilizing foreign investment, comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, comprehensively promoting the building of a beautiful China, protecting the ecological environment and maintaining ecological security, and optimizing the allocation of financial resources. We will focus on strategic arrangements for promoting Chinese-style modernization, focus on key areas, strengthen weak links and strengthen areas of weakness, and make the formulation of fiscal and tax policies, the design of institutional arrangements, and the ways and means of management better serve China's modernization drive.

(5) Adhere to the concept of system. Investigations and research must be comprehensive, objective and accurate, and must be carried out with a clear understanding of everything in hand. System idea is a basic way of thinking and working method. Only by keeping a firm grasp of the relationships between the overall situation and the local situation, the current situation and the long-term situation, the macro situation and the micro situation, the principal contradiction and the secondary contradiction, the special and the general situation, and observing things from a universally interconnected, comprehensive and systematic perspective of development and change, can we grasp the law of development of things. We must always bear in mind the "great role of the country", pay close attention to what the General Secretary and the CPC Central Committee are concerned about and emphasize, strengthen the "one-game" thinking, carry out investigation and research in a systematic way, continue to work hard in forward-looking thinking, overall planning and overall advancement of all financial work, and actively contribute suggestions to the CPC Central Committee in strengthening macro-control and governance of the financial system. We will continue to make investigations and research more scientific, systematic, and effective, and strive to achieve the goal of "working in one area based on the overall situation and doing well in one area to promote the overall situation".

3. Improving the quality of research work and promoting fiscal policy to better serve economic and social development

On the basis of in-depth study and implementation of the important speech spirit of the General Secretary at the thematic education work Conference, in accordance with the requirements of the central government, the Party Group of the Ministry of Finance in-depth study and grasp the work requirements, the first time to formulate implementation plans, focusing on the implementation of the important instructions of the General Secretary and the decision-making and deployment of the Central Committee, the Ministry of Finance to make comprehensive arrangements for the investigation and research.

(1) Adhere to the lead by example, the leading Party group to take the lead in carrying out research.  Members of the leading Party Members' Group dispatched to Tianjin, Guangdong, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Sichuan and other provinces, state-owned financial institutions, and some central government units to work on key issues, including deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises, supporting the development of national parks, strengthening financial and accounting oversight, ensuring the stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products, reforming multilateral development banks, and debt problems of developing countries. The World Bank, IMF and other international institutions have conducted in-depth research to learn more about the situation and provided strong support for making their decisions more scientific and effective.

(2) Develop research topics and plans scientifically based on the content and steps. The leading Party group of the Ministry of Finance takes the investigation and research of Daxing as a concrete practice to deeply understand the decisive significance of "two establishment" and resolutely achieve "two maintenance". By referring to the key contents of 12 aspects and 6 steps specified by the central government, it closely follows the new situation and new changes of financial and economic development around the financial responsibilities and missions, and scientifically determines the research plan. We will focus on problems of a universal and institutional nature, and on deep-seated key issues concerning reform, development and stability. In accordance with the arrangements for key fiscal work in 2023, the Party Group of the Ministry of Finance identified 27 topics for leading research or special research, including "the effect of implementing the spirit of the General Secretary's important instructions and instructions on fiscal work and promoting ideas". Members of the leading bodies of all units identified more than 440 leading research topics, such as "Research on improving financial support for Chinese modernization with Chinese characteristics".

(3) Focus on the target task and ensure that each problem has a practical and effective solution. The evaluation criterion of research results is to solve problems, and research reports cannot be used to replace research results. We will adhere to the unity of goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches, and use the worldview, methodology, and the positions, views, and methods embedded in the General Secretary's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to conduct in-depth analysis, fully demonstrate, and make scientific decisions. By holding exchanges on research findings and making lists of the transformation of research findings, we will translate research findings into practical measures to solve prominent problems in the financial field and improve our work, and into practical results in promoting fiscal reform and development, so that research and research will become a driving force for promoting fiscal reform and development.

(4) Improve the investigation methods and improve the pertinence and effectiveness of the investigation. Investigation is "a methodical art". In view of the different nature of research, we should make good use of strategic research that concerns the overall situation, countermeasures to solve complex problems, forward-looking research in the new era and under new circumstances, follow-up research on major work projects, anatomical research on typical cases, and supervisory research to promote implementation. We will make full use of modern information technologies such as the Internet and big data to conduct investigations and research through a combination of panel interviews, random interviews, questionnaires, expert surveys, sample surveys and statistical analyses. When conducting investigations and research, we have always been diving down to the front line, not only "physically" but also "mentally" at the grassroots level, so as to be more grounded in our atmosphere, investigate and understand the situation at multiple levels, in multiple directions and through multiple channels, feel the pulse, dissect the sparrow, consult the people and consult in practice, so as to thoroughly study the problems, make measures accurate and concrete, and make all fiscal policies and work more realistic.

(5) Strengthen typical case analysis, be a good "clairvoyant eye", "wind ear". At present, our country's development has entered a period where strategic opportunities and risks and challenges coexist, and where uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. The Ministry of Finance provides specific services and guarantees for the CPC Central Committee's governance and financial management. The more volatile and complex the situation becomes, the more necessary it is to find ways and means to solve difficult problems through comprehensive and in-depth investigation and research, and to focus on deep-seated problems in fiscal reform, development and stability as well as the people's difficulties and worries. Find the entry point, combination point, focus point, analyze the problem, analyze the reasons, take improvement measures. On the basis of the actual situation obtained through investigation and research, we need to promptly collect new developments and problems in various fields, opinions and suggestions on implementing the principles and policies of the CPC Central Committee, and hot issues of concern to the cadres and the public, summarize them, analyze and judge them, and report them to the CPC Central Committee at the earliest time, so as to provide important basis for the scientific decision-making of the CPC Central Committee.

(6) Strict work discipline, promote the formation of financial practice Daxing investigation and research fine style of new practice. In investigation and research, we must strictly follow the eight-point Regulations of the CPC Central Committee and the rules for their implementation. We must be light in our approach, practice strict economy, and resolutely avoid conducting research in the form of "one car, one room, one speech, and one paper reading." We must also avoid conducting research in clusters or in the form of "show" research. Investigations and research should not be conducted in a formalistic or bureaucratic manner, in a "skimming of the water" way, in a "condescending" way with more instructions and less willingness to ask for advice, in a "being investigated" way with less autonomy and loss of initiative, in a "favoring the rich" way. We must put the people first, worship and learn from the people, and maintain close ties between the Party and the people. It is necessary to show perseverance and tenacity, find and summarize effective practices and successful experiences, work hard in the long term and the long term, promote the systematic and regular investigation and research of the Ministry of Finance, and constantly improve the long-term mechanism of investigation and research.

Source: Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China