Authority-Led Work Archives - understand-culture

Obey Orders in All Actions

The first of the Three Main Rules of Discipline reads yiqie xingdong ting zhihui (一切行动听指挥): “Obey orders in all actions.” The rules took shape in the Red Army in 1928. On October 10, 1947, the General Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army reissued them, together with the Eight Points for Attention.

In the autumn of 1935, two officers of the political department of the Red 15th Army Corps set the rules to music. The song spread through the whole army and became one of the most popular revolutionary songs.

A Hundred and Eight Stamps

On January 20, 2013, Guangzhou’s mayor met members of the city’s political consultative conference. One of them, Cao Zhiwei, showed a chart of the approval process for an investment project. He called it the “Long March chart.” From the start of a project to its approval, he said, the process passed through 20 departments, needed 108 stamps and took 799 working days.

Cao said the process could be cut to 232 working days.

Run at Most Once

On December 27, 2016, the economic work conference of the Zhejiang Party committee first proposed a reform called zui duo pao yi ci, “run at most once.” Citizens and firms were to get a matter done with the government in at most one trip. In March 2017, the province said that it aimed to cover about 80 percent of administrative matters by the end of the year.

In March 2018, the reform was written into the national Government Work Report.

The reform that cut the trips was itself a decision from above.

Waiting for Notice From Above

In October 2025, a commentary on the People’s Forum website described two phrases that had become common in some places and offices facing a public controversy: “wait for notice from above” and “follow the leader’s arrangements.” Even matters clearly within an office’s own authority, it said, “must wait for a superior to speak.”

The commentary quoted Xinhua, which called this way of handling public opinion “looking only upward and not at the facts.”

No Deputies at Wahaha

For many years, the beverage company Wahaha had no deputy general managers and no board of directors. A business profile from January 2022 described how its founder, Zong Qinghou, ran it: “To avoid infighting, Wahaha had no deputy post and no board. Zong Qinghou stood alone at the front of Wahaha.” He approved even budgets of a thousand yuan himself.

No Signature

In 2007, a pregnant woman, Li Liyun, was brought to a Beijing hospital in critical condition. Doctors recommended an immediate cesarean. Her partner, Xiao Zhijun, refused to sign the consent form. Without a family signature, the hospital did not operate, and she and her unborn child died.

The hospital cited “Article 33 of the health administration regulations”: “Only after the patient’s family has signed can we carry out an operation. This happened because the family refused to sign, so we bear no responsibility.”

Article 33 of the Regulations on the Administration of Medical Institutions also contains a second path: a doctor may proceed with a treatment plan after obtaining the approval of the head of the institution.

Object, Then Carry Out

Under Article 60 of the Civil Servant Law, as revised in 2018, a civil servant who believes a superior’s decision or order is wrong may propose to the superior that it be corrected or withdrawn. If the superior does not change it, or demands immediate action, the civil servant must carry it out. The superior then bears the consequences.

A civil servant who carries out a clearly illegal decision or order is held responsible for it.

Leaders’ Written Instructions

In Chinese government, a leader’s short written comment on a report or document is called a pishi (批示), a written instruction. It turns the document into a task for the people below.

In 2016, Xi Jinping wrote such an instruction on the study of Mao Zedong’s essay on the working methods of Party committees. The Central Organization Department then issued a notice to carry it out. According to the Party’s news site, the instruction set clear requirements for every member of every Party leadership team, and especially for its principal leaders.

Ask First, Report After

In February 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party issued Regulations on Requesting Instructions and Reporting on Major Matters. Their rule is short: what must be requested must be requested, and what must be reported must be reported (该请示的必须请示，该报告的必须报告).

A request to a higher Party organization on a major matter must be made in advance, so that the higher level has enough time to study it and decide. Only when an emergency leaves no time to ask may an official act first. Even then, the official must report to the higher level promptly afterwards.

Morning Requests, Evening Reports

During the Cultural Revolution, people began the day in front of a portrait of Mao Zedong. In the morning, they “requested instructions” from the portrait for the day’s work and life. In the evening, they “reported” how they had carried them out and what they had been thinking. The ritual was called 早请示，晚汇报.

It was widespread from 1966 to 1971, although no official Party document ever prescribed it. People labeled “ox demons and snake spirits” were not allowed to take part. They had to “request punishment” morning and evening instead.