The man is the star of an advertisement encouraging officials to sign up in the app for a nationwide quiz on Xi’s personal ideology. So far this summer, 700,000 party members out of nearly 97 million have logged into the app daily to take part by trying to recall what Xi said about, well, almost everything.
To reach the final next month, they need to accurately answer hundreds of multiple-choice questions like: “In modern China, the essence of patriotism is to resolutely love the nation and the party and be highly unified in […].” Is the answer A) loving socialism, B) pursuing progress, C) daring to take responsibility or D) honing our ability to struggle? (It was A.)
The quiz is the latest avenue for mass displays of political loyalty and fervor toward Xi, who has secured more personal power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and began a norm-busting third term as president in March.
In April, he launched a Marxist-study campaign focused on his personal ideology, with a modern twist. Since then, everyone from employees of technology companies to college students has been schooled on Xi Thought, in lessons delivered in apps, on game shows and during exams.
During his first decade in power, Xi developed a philosophy, formally known as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
It is less a clear theory than a sprawling collection of almost every statement attributed to him, with the exception of inconvenient early writings and speeches on topics like censorship and the Tiananmen Square protests.
Every leader of the People’s Republic has had similar ideologies that are meant to guide the party and the nation. But Xi’s version emphasizes his personal role as “core” leader and encapsulates his vision of a reinvigorated, unified and loyal party leading China toward a dominant position on the global stage.
The process of gamifying study sessions began in 2019 with the launch of the app Xuexi Qiangguo — a name that could mean either “study for a strong nation” or “study Xi for a strong nation.”
There has since been a proliferation of platforms on Xi Thought.
But it is not only Communist Party officials who need to worry about knowing their socialisms from their struggles. At some companies, people who do poorly in Xi study apps could find themselves facing extra scrutiny during performance reviews.
“It’s everywhere. It has seeped into society,” said Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
That effort to embed ideology in everyday affairs can be see in the proliferation of platforms like Rejuvenation No. 1.
The app was developed by the Bank of China and the Zhejiang provincial government work committee, with content provided by one of the party’s theoretical journals.
The prize for the winners to be announced after the final in July? “A combination of spiritual and material rewards” granted to you and your Communist Party work unit, as well as being named in major party newspapers, an official announcement said.
Aside from the quiz, the app lets people pay their party membership fees and connect with other cadres across the country and the world, making it useful for state-owned companies, hospitals and private enterprises, its developers boast.
But the creation of ideology 2.0 has spawned all kinds of efforts to cheat the system. A new online industry has popped up where people are offering — for a fee — to help others boost their Rejuvenation app scores.
Others shared questions and answers online free.
“Thank you thank you thank you, please keep updating [the doc], okay?” someone replied to one answer provider.
Some competitors expressed dismay after making it to the semifinals. “It wasn’t easy to keep answering the questions for more than 20 days. I was about to throw my revision papers away, when I was told I had made it to the semifinals,” one user wrote. “Now there will be 15 more days answering questions on so many topics that I can’t memorize them all.”
‘Smart’ party building
China’s Communist leaders have long promoted “party building” — essentially ensuring that everyone understands tasks handed down from the top. Mao did it with his Little Red Book, but Xi has encouraged “smart” party building, with upgraded tools like these apps. This has been particularly noticeable since March, when Xi began his third term and stacked the upper echelons of the leadership with his acolytes.
The Communist Party’s tight control over what is shared and posted online means it can make material about Xi seem wildly popular even when it would not otherwise hold its own against cat videos and celebrity gossip.
“We live in an era where the propaganda machine can treat this content as viral, even though it’s the most non-viral content there is,” said David Bandurski, director of the China Media Project, a research group.
That began with the “study for a strong nation” app. “It’s a very different Little Red Book. It’s algorithmic. It’s gamified. If you’re a local functionary of, say, the Shanghai government, then you have to go on the app,” Bandurski said.
Other local governments have followed in the footsteps of Zhejiang and the Rejuvenation No. 1 app. The Shandong government has made a platform called “Lighthouse — Online Party Building” which is being used for a similar competition.
“Smart” party building is showing up in other ways, too. This month, the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, has been promoting its “proofreading” platform.
The service lets users upload documents or pictures to ensure that they are politically correct. Image recognition can identify officials who have fallen from grace and should be deleted or other content like flags and emblems considered “sensitive,” according to the platform’s advertisements.
There are also paper alternatives for proving one’s devotion to the leader. At least seven books dedicated to Xi were published in April alone, including a study guide, two volumes of selected works and a short volume on the “self-revolution” needed for the party to “prepare for the great test of rough waters and choppy seas.”
Being familiar with Xi’s work is increasingly necessary to get ahead, even for those who aren’t Communist Party apparatchiks. Questions on his theories have increasingly been appearing in professional exams for journalists, teachers and lawyers.
Essay prompts in the university entrance exam, critical for achievement in modern China, now often feature Xi’s sayings.
This year marked the first time the test papers directly named Xi, unlike previous years when his sayings were used as essay prompts without revealing their source.
One recent prompt began with a quote from a Xi speech with clear anti-American themes: “One will not be seen in a more favorable light after blowing out others’ lamps; nor will they go farther by blocking others’ paths,” Xi said then.
Students were told to reflect on how Xi “used vivid language to declare a universal truth.” There was nothing in the prompt to suggest a dissenting view would be welcomed.
Pei-Lin Wu and Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.