Voice of Reason – Chinese Theory in Practice | Top-Level Design vs. Practical Exploration

Promoting Chinese-style modernization is a systematic project that requires a good relationship between top-level design and practical exploration. The so-called “top-level design” is originally an engineering concept, referring to top-down design, that is, designing the whole first, then designing the parts, and finally the details, which is a process from the general to the parts, and from the coarse to the fine. The term “top-level design” is used in the Party’s report and documents to refer mainly to the design of the overall framework instead of specific parts and details. The so-called “practical exploration” means that pilot programs are carried out at the grassroots to identify the situation and explore the patterns. In more familiar terms, it’s “crossing the river by feeling the stones”.

Both top-level design and practical exploration are important. This is just like building a house. It is impossible to build a house without a construction plan, but the construction plan is not everything. During construction, unforeseen circumstances may arise that require new designs. It is also in the construction process that the architect may find new inspiration and new creation. The key lies in the fact that top-level design and practical exploration should not be separated, rather they should be combined. To grasp the relationship between top-level design and practical exploration, the key is to integrate the top-down design and bottom-up practice in an interactive and organic fashion.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “crossing the river by groping the stones and strengthening the top-level design are dialectically unified, the reform and opening up in certain aspects must be carried out under the premise of strengthening the top-level design, and the top-level design must be based on specific reform and opening up initiatives.” The “Book of Changes”  states in its chapter “Tai Gua - Tuan Zhuan” that, “When Heaven and Earth communicate, all things flourish. When superiors and inferiors connect, their aspirations align. Harmony between top and down leads to auspiciousness.”

When General Secretary Xi Jinping was working in Fujian Province, he led the reform of the forest rights system based on the practical exploration of Wuping County in Fujian Province at that time and his in-depth understanding of the actual development of the forestry industry, as well as his profound knowledge of the forest rights system. Later, it was based on the practice in Fujian that the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Program for Deepening the Reform of the Collective Forest Rights System”.

Top-level design and practical exploration are relative. The reform of the forest rights system in Fujian is a top-level design from the angles of localities in Fujian, but it’s a practical exploration viewed from the national perspective. Therefore, to combine top-level design and practical exploration, the key is to realize the benign interaction between the two. We not only need to promote practical development under the guidance of top-level design, but also need to improve top-level design on the basis of practical exploration, so as to make it more scientific and reasonable, and more aligned with China’s realities.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that top-level design requires a deep insight into the general trend of the world, an accurate grasp of the common aspirations of the people, an in-depth exploration of the laws of socio-economic development, so that the planning and policy formulated can reflect the times, grasp the essence, and be creative, relevant and coordinative in nature. Chinese-style modernization must be promoted against the general background of modernization in the world, it has to meet the needs of the people for a better life through development, in this sense, it’s rooted in the Chinese land and grows from the Chinese soil.

Shenzhen started off as a small fishing village, it grew into a world-renowned metropolis thanks to its establishment as a special economic zone, which was then a creative initiative fitting the times and grasping the patterns of growth. Yiwu, as an internationally renowned small commodity hub, is not only the Yiwu of Zhejiang, but it also belongs to China and even the whole world. It’s precisely because policy designers at the time clearly defined the positioning of Yiwu that such vitality is released afterwards, and those policies remained stable, consistent, and kept up with the times.

Chinese-style modernization entails practical exploration. In advancing the reform process, two questions pop up frequently. The first is: Can the grassroots explore without documents from above? The answer is yes. Top-level design should be carried out on the basis of practical exploration. It is precisely because there is no document from above that the grassroots should be encouraged, guided and supported in various original and differentiated reforms, summarizing and scaling up in a timely manner the best practices of exploration and innovation. The other question is: Can the grassroots explore when there are already documents from a higher level? The answer is affirmative, too. The documents issued by the top-level design are general in nature and framework designs, which should not and cannot be all-encompassing; rather, a certain amount of free and reasonable space must be left for grassroots explorations and practices, so that the grassroots can give full play to their creative capacity and better follow through the spirit of the documents. Therefore, in order to make the reform proposals of the central authorities work, it is necessary to encourage localities to carry out differentiated explorations.

China is so vast a land with such a large population. The actual conditions are quite different in each place, be it a province, a city, or a county. Local grassroots, apart from fully understanding the spirit of the central government and aligning with top-level designs, must also formulate targeted, specific initiative based on their local reality.

In the practice of promoting Chinese-style modernization, it is not easy to combine top-level design with practical exploration. Facing doubts or difficulties, the key is to find the right angle of combination, that is, to adhere to the people-centered value orientation and the performance concept of benefiting the people. This will ensure strength from within and the direction in front of us.

With respect to the people-centered value orientation, we need to understand what the people care about, what they expect, what is the focus of our work, and what reforms should be prioritized. To put people in the center, we must also gain wisdom from the people, the people must play a key role in the various practices of the reform. To make sure that people are always at the center, we need to let the people score our reform measures and see whether they’ve promoted socio-economic development, whether they’ve strengthened social justice and brought tangible gains to the general public.

Combining top-level design with practical exploration is not only an important methodology for deepening reform, but also for promoting Chinese-style modernization. Only by integrating top-down design with bottom-up practical exploration, can we foster benign interaction across the various levels of the government and create lively and harmonious results across the board.