The "Four Major Principles" that Chinese Industry Associations Should Follow

President of China Condiment Association Wei Xiangyun

If we classify the current social organizations in China, they can be roughly divided into three categories: The first category is government organizations, including the Communist Party of China and various democratic parties, as well as the Communist Youth League and Women's Federation organizations. Their work functions are relatively clear, their personnel are managed as civil servants, and their living conditions and career advancement paths are basically guaranteed; the second category is enterprise organizations, including manufacturing enterprises, service enterprises, public institutions, colleges and universities, and research institutes. Their functional positioning is also relatively clear, which is to carry out production, operation, scientific research, and education within the scope permitted by laws and regulations, pursuing the maximization of shareholder interests; the third category is non-governmental organizations, including industry associations and various social intermediary organizations. Their work functions are relatively vague and lack corresponding legal and regulatory norms. However, these organizations are an inevitable result of the establishment of a socialist market economy and correspond to the trend of global economic integration.
Because non-governmental organizations in developed foreign countries have a longer history of development, their corresponding laws and regulations are relatively sound, and the functional positioning of various organizations is clearer. Coupled with the clear positioning of government management functions and relatively independent checks and balances, the management and regulation of non-governmental organizations have rules to follow, with legal and institutional guarantees. Their personnel positioning, part-time roles, promotion channels, and exit mechanisms are all regulated and operable. Therefore, they have the environmental conditions for sustainable and stable development. However, China's current non-governmental organizations face many uncertainties, with industry associations being the most prominent group. Although there are some "management opinions" from the General Office of the State Council to various functional departments, these opinions contain many contradictions, lack coordination, are vague, and central and local policies are not connected, with inconsistent departmental regulations. This has led to unreasonable structures, insignificant roles, and irregular behaviors. Especially, the overall quality of personnel in industry associations is difficult to improve and is not recognized by mainstream society, which further exacerbates the uneven quality of personnel, mixing good and bad. This phenomenon urgently needs change and requires high attention from government departments, as well as strengthened self-discipline among industry association personnel, starting from themselves to establish a good social image and play an important role in social and economic life. Therefore, categorizing current industry association personnel as "third-party" survival status helps them find their positioning and do their work well. It also allows continuous summarization of experiences and lessons in work and exploration of the regularity of development.
Currently, I believe that mutual-benefit industry associations (hereinafter referred to as industry associations, excluding public welfare industry associations) should follow four major principles in their survival and development:

The "Four Major Principles" that Industry Associations Should Follow for Survival and Development

1. Adhere to "Dislike the Poor, Love the Rich"
Industry associations are organizations between the government and enterprises, mainly with two functions: one is to complete tasks entrusted by the government, or to say government "purchasing services," which is certainly a good thing. But under current conditions, even if the "government does not purchase," industry associations must strive to provide good services. Because the government's role is not only to "purchase services" with money; the government's "credit" and "authority" are what industry associations seek to serve. Therefore, in our real life, whichever industry association can maintain a good "relationship" with the government is a great honor and pride, which is beyond doubt.
Secondly, serving the industry and cooperating with government departments to manage the industry well is an unshirkable social responsibility. Without fulfilling this social responsibility, the premise and foundation of the industry association's existence are lost. But this alone is far from enough; more importantly, it is to serve the enterprises within the industry and related industries well. This is the fundamental reason for the survival and development of industry associations. If an industry association cannot serve enterprises well, enterprises will not support it, and the association will lose its survival conditions and soil. Therefore, industry associations must, based on a clear concept of serving enterprises, serve large enterprises, good enterprises, enterprises that have obtained China famous brand products and China well-known trademarks, "China Time-honored Brands," and enterprises with Chinese characteristic famous and special products. This idea can be summarized as "dislike the poor, love the rich," highlighting key points. The reason and rationale for this idea are: an industry may have thousands or even tens of thousands of enterprises, with member enterprises only about 20%-30%, and generally, the members who pay dues in an industry association are at most about half of the member enterprises. Although there is no regular pattern, this is an unavoidable reality. Relying on membership fees to complete industry management work is absolutely "a drop in the bucket." If services are provided to every enterprise in the industry, obviously there is neither funding nor personnel, and it is even harder to do the work. Therefore, providing services to thousands of enterprises mainly includes providing information, setting standards, and online Q&A for common issues. Specialized, distinctive, and one-on-one services must adhere to the principle of "dislike the poor, love the rich." For those unknown, weak small enterprises, only general services can be provided; for those that counterfeit, cheat, or engage in fraudulent activities, the industry should condemn them and formulate corresponding industry rules and agreements to restrict their irregular behaviors. Of course, serving the industry and serving large and good enterprises requires "core competitiveness." Whether it is business "consulting" or helping enterprises "expand capital" or "increase benefits," it requires extraordinary ability and first-class business level. In other words, "dislike the corrupt, love the rich" is easy to say but hard to do.
2. Always "Love the New, Dislike the Old"
In today's China, the economy is developing rapidly, and people live harmoniously, which can be called a "prosperous era." Everything is changing. Government institutions are continuously reforming, and various enterprises are flourishing. However, the goal of government institutional reform remains consistent: how to be a good "night watchman" and "nanny" to provide good services to taxpayers. The government's functions do not require "innovation." Enterprises' goal is to maximize "shareholder rights" under the premise of complying with laws and regulations. The work goal of industry associations is "innovation," that is, to explore a path of "innovation" under the conditions of a socialist market economy to achieve the new harmonious social goal of reducing government regulation and developing civil society services. Therefore, the emergence and development of industry associations are new things. The characteristic of new things is "love the new, dislike the old." "Love the new" includes new concepts, new trends, new cultures, new ideas, and new systems; "dislike the old" means abandoning the traditional government department management model of the planned economy period, the "official-centered" culture, "paternalistic" style, "one-man rule" style, and "two governments" thinking. Only in this way can industry associations have foresight, stand at the "meso" level, grasp the "macro," serve the "micro," and thus implement the true "scientific outlook on development."
The "love the new" idea of industry associations can be summarized as: the new concept means that industry associations are not "affiliates" of the government but independent legal entities of civil society. Their actions, except being constrained by the constitution and national laws and regulations, are not subject to interference by any organization or individual.
The new trend means that industry associations should be based in China and look at the world, quickly and better follow the world's development trends, integrate with various international organizations into global integration, and do a good job for Chinese industry associations worldwide.
The new culture requires industry associations to establish a unique corporate culture based on the current situation in China and the actual conditions of the industry. Although they are "third-party" organizations between the government and enterprises, they must stand out, neither flattering nor vulgar, to form the cohesion of full-time industry association personnel.
The new thinking refers to the industry associations breaking the "unique" development mindset in handling relationships with other non-governmental organizations, prioritizing win-win outcomes, achieving "harmony without uniformity," and highlighting "characteristics." In the long run, it is necessary to understand the truth of "life is short, like flowing water," and deeply grasp the essence of "we are born of the same root, why be so eager to harm each other."
The new system is to establish and improve a new governance model and checks and balances structure for industry associations, focusing on cultivating a professional staff group while respecting the current composition of personnel in Chinese industry associations.
Currently, the management of these professional personnel should mainly consider two factors: one is how to improve living conditions, and the other is how to establish a sense of career achievement. In this regard, industry associations currently need "innovation" more, while government departments should give sufficient attention and support. However, it should be pointed out that there are very few research results in this area because the current government "think tanks" disdain studying this matter, and the state does not provide funding. Only a few academic institutions have such research organizations (such as Tsinghua University's NGO Research Institute). As for the spirit of relevant departmental documents, there are contradictions and they lag far behind the current development status of industry associations. Some leaders' speeches about industry associations either do not understand the actual situation or are "old tunes repeated," ineffective and meaningless. I believe the current positioning of full-time workers in industry associations is similar to or close to that of university faculty. Although they cannot be fully compared with national university faculty (who have stable state funding), they belong to a relatively independent and free group. Only with this positioning can this group have relatively stable development conditions and a relatively mature work mentality, motivating them to actively use their intelligence for the development of industry associations. Of course, achieving this kind of "innovation" is not easy. Each industry association can boldly explore according to its own situation, but it must not be neglected. This is the "century plan" for the development of industry associations and should be done sooner rather than later.
3. Dare to "Aim High and Take Pride in Achievements"
Industry associations should dare to "aim high and take pride in achievements," which does not mean that the professional group of industry associations is a bunch of "arrogant and unruly" people. "Aim high" can be vividly summarized as how industry association work focuses on the "big picture," approaches from the industry perspective, and starts from the "small details" to do their job well; while "taking pride in achievements" is from the perspective of the main leaders of industry associations, how to evaluate the "merits" and "faults" of the organization's personnel. In this sense, the greater the strength of the industry association, the better it can do its work; the wider the scope and more specialized the business, the more it can achieve sustainable development and enhance development momentum. From the perspective of professional staff's sense of achievement, any "performance" they make for the industry association should become the factual basis for leaders to "evaluate merits properly." Therefore, every industry association leader hopes that their staff have outstanding achievements and many merits. Although there is the admonition in China to "welcome criticism," which means leaders should dare to face their mistakes in specific environments and atmospheres, in most cases and situations, "taking pride in achievements" prevails. Especially since industry associations are currently in a relatively difficult development environment and the professional staff group is unstable, under such circumstances, leaders valuing "taking pride in achievements" is correct.
The other side of daring to "aim high" is that industry association work must be good at grasping the macro perspective, starting from the macroeconomic management environment, assessing the situation, and formulating long-term development strategies for the industry association. "He who fails to plan long ahead will have worries near at hand." The development plan should be considered over 10 to 20 years, not just doing the work day by day or focusing only on one to two or three to five years.
As for the other side of "taking pride in achievements," it means that while doing the industry association's main work well, one should strive to "make contributions and establish a career" and have pursuits. This "achievement" includes writing papers, publishing commentaries, authoring books, acting as and playing the role of a civil "think tank," and striving to leave some valuable historical materials for the industry and enterprises. This "career" refers to treating the work of the industry association as a cause and striving to cultivate a group of talents to ensure the continuity of this cause. It is worth mentioning that in terms of "aiming high and taking pride in achievements," there is a two-way thinking between association leaders and general staff. That is, general staff hope their leaders have strong work ability, high work standards, and leadership charisma, and also hope their leaders can make achievements and have high prestige in the industry, which reflects the cohesion and centripetal force of the industry association. At the same time, as full-time leaders of industry associations, an important task of "taking pride in achievements" is to mobilize the enthusiasm of the organization's personnel in various ways, be good at properly "evaluating merits," cheer for them spiritually and in life pursuits, praise them to encourage and support them to do their jobs well, with material rewards being the best complement.
Of course, achieving the above "aim high and take pride in achievements" is neither an overnight success nor a "one-day achievement," but such goals and pursuits must be established. This requires us to pressure ourselves while encouraging and supporting each other; only in this way do we have the internal motivation to do a good job in industry associations.
4. Strive for "Both Fame and Profit"
Modern society is an information society. Today's China coexists with tradition and modernity, old concepts and systems alongside new concepts and systems. The global wave of informatization engulfs everything. As social organizations, industry associations must survive and develop, inevitably facing a series of problems to solve. Striving for "both fame and profit" should be a legitimate and reasonable choice.
In the past, our traditional educational view was to teach people from a young age to establish the idea of "not seeking fame or profit," which is actually a good subjective wish. Objectively speaking, those who can truly achieve "not seeking fame or profit" have actually already become famous, and the issue of "profit" has long been resolved. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, Microsoft president Bill Gates, and investment guru Warren Buffett are willing to "donate to society" because they have long "achieved both fame and profit." It is imaginable: what meaning does it have to tell a street beggar not to seek fame or profit? The survival status of industry associations is similar to the "third party" existence between the government and enterprises. The government is the "political" leader of the industry association, enterprises are the "breadwinners" of the industry association, but there is no "blood relationship," similar to the "adoption" and "foster care" relationships in real life, which are subtle and somewhat distant. If the relationship between the two is handled well, they depend on each other, exist mutually, support each other, and develop respectively; if the relationship is handled poorly, they will become enemies and look at each other coldly. If the industry association goes against the "political leadership," it is like hitting a stone with an egg. The consequences are predictable. If the industry association does not get support from enterprises within the industry, especially from large and good enterprises, it will become water without a source and a tree without roots, losing the premise for survival and development.
Therefore, for industry associations to survive and develop well, they must first place "reputation" first, and regard establishing good credit and reputation of the industry association as the top priority. This means fully cultivating the core competitiveness of the industry association, including influence in the industry and related industries, the right to speak in media statements and comments, and so on. Secondly, industry associations must do everything possible to create conditions to strive for related "interests." Currently, the income of industry associations in striving for "interests" includes government-commissioned service fees, membership fees paid by member enterprises, various social sponsorships, and income from consulting services. But so far, most industry associations have not shown obvious effects in both "reputation" and "interests." Many industry associations not only lack authority within the industry but also have not solved basic survival problems, such as having many retired personnel, few full-time staff, low salaries, lack of professional talent, and unclear and uncertain development prospects.
Therefore, striving for "both fame and profit" is one of the important issues for the survival and development of industry associations in the future. If an industry association remains silent and never becomes "famous," it will gradually lose the necessity for survival. If an industry association only does work but does not strive for related "interests," it will be difficult to improve employees' living conditions, cannot cultivate a professional full-time management team, and thus cannot attract higher-quality talents to serve the association. Ultimately, this will cause the organization to fall into a vicious cycle of "not much difference with or without you."

Industry associations should establish four development concepts.

Looking back at nearly 30 years of reform and opening up in China, and observing the development status of industry associations in various countries around the world, and considering the problems and difficulties in the development of non-governmental organizations in China, combined with my own years of practice and exploration in industry association work, I feel that to survive and develop well, industry associations should pay attention to establishing the following four development concepts.
1. "International Perspective"
The premise of the international perspective requires industry associations to have an internationalized vision. The functions of industry associations differ significantly from government organizations. Although domestic and foreign government organizations are both "night watchmen," due to different political systems, there are similarities in management functions but also significant differences. Industry associations are different; they do not have large differences in management functions due to political system differences. The biggest difference from government organizations is that they are not bound by the "Administrative Licensing Law" but emphasize more on aligning with the management of international industry associations, that is, "what is not prohibited by law is allowed," which is the direction of industry association functional reform. This is exactly opposite to the principle of "what is not permitted by law is not allowed" in China's government institutional reform and administrative function reform. Therefore, an internationalized vision provides industry associations with an infinitely broad field for reform and development.
First, the establishment of the concept of international perspective means that many non-governmental organizations internationally, including public welfare organizations and mutual benefit organizations, have decades or even over a hundred years of industry management history, with complete organizational structures and governance mechanisms, accumulating rich industry management experience and lessons. These are valuable assets that industry associations can learn from and absorb, which can be "taken for our use" or "adapted from foreign to Chinese use."
Secondly, due to political reasons and other factors, some non-governmental organizations in certain countries or regions make it difficult for governments between countries or regions to communicate and coordinate, which provides room for industry associations to play a role.
Third, various international exchanges of industries or professions worldwide provide industry associations with shortcuts to go out, invite in, and seek survival and development. Industry associations often play the roles of "pioneers" in international exchanges, "trial and error" participants in professional exchanges, and "intermediaries" in civil mutual benefit activities. If the exchanges between countries must strictly follow each country's diplomatic policies, some international organizations have a "transnational management" nature. Therefore, an important task for industry associations in establishing an international perspective is to gradually learn to deal with various international organizations to achieve professional communication and docking, directly serving domestic industries and enterprises with advanced international practices and experiences in the same industry.
Fourth, industry associations have favorable conditions to hold professional exchange activities and international expos and exhibitions in China. China is advancing toward becoming an influential world power, which is an indisputable fact. Industry associations must organize international expos and exhibitions and various professional exchange activities according to the characteristics and realities of their industries. Currently, when conditions for holding international and professional exhibitions abroad are not yet available, it is especially important to seize opportunities to hold such activities in China. This is both a unique advantage for China's industry associations and a need for further internationalization activities.
Fifth, a more important aspect of internationalization is to cultivate international talents. Due to the nature of industry association work, their activities are borderless. Therefore, it is urgent for industry associations to cultivate a high-quality talent group capable of international exchanges, including talents with foreign languages, law, economics, and professional knowledge. Continuous professional training must be carried out to adapt to the rapidly changing international situation.
2. "Chinese Heart"
Establishing a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics is an unprecedented great experiment and a practical requirement for building a harmonious society and realizing the scientific outlook on development in China. Industry associations, as the "third party" participating in this experiment, also bear an important historical mission and responsibility. Therefore, industry associations must clearly understand China's basic national conditions, carefully analyze the behavioral norms and styles of various social strata and the interest groups they represent, and understand the demands and needs of various social organizations. Only in this way can they see the essence through the phenomenon, correctly establish their work ideas and countermeasures, and be "invincible and undefeated" in the face of a complex work environment, achieving "ease in advance and retreat, skillful and effective" to do their jobs well.
First, it is necessary to thoroughly understand China's existing laws, regulations, and relevant policies. Some international "ideas" may sometimes work internationally but may not be suitable domestically or may be "reasonable but illegal." Therefore, it is essential to "learn more" but "use cautiously." Recently, a certain world association's China branch intervened to coordinate product sales prices, which was a typical case of "blindly following foreign practices" and was severely criticized by China's government price management departments and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Many media outlets followed up, and some commentaries caused a "negative impact" on the industry association. In fact, in 2005, some factory managers in my industry association had already raised such demands. I specifically expressed my views and wrote papers pointing out that such demands and practices do not comply with China's current laws and suggested that industry associations could guide enterprises to adjust product structures, develop products at different price points, and increase product added value, but must not engage in "price alliances." Similarly, in the first half of this year, a provincial peer association in Guizhou organized product price increases, and our association timely gave a friendly reminder to show concern for peers. However, we have no superior-subordinate relationship with the provincial association and no authority to revoke their "actions." The facts have provided the best answer: such "price coordination" is an invalid activity, the "price alliance" quickly disintegrated, and the industry association ended up doing an unappreciated job. This also includes related activities such as "certification" and "evaluation." Industry associations must not attempt to cross the policy bottom line set by the government and relevant departments, nor should they have a fluke mentality. They must act decisively when necessary and refrain from acting when inappropriate to avoid "losing both the wife and the soldiers." Under such circumstances, industry associations should adhere to the principle of "better to do less than to overdo it." Even if temporarily "absent," they must not "overstep," as the cost of "overstepping" can be huge, possibly a "bottomless pit" or a "minefield."
Second, be good at dealing with relevant government departments. In terms of work functions, industry associations should appear as industry managers and be brave enough to undertake tasks entrusted by government departments. Government procurement of services is certainly good, but unpaid services are also valuable because currently, unpaid services to the government can enhance the industry's reputation and broaden work ideas. At present, the Party Central Committee and the central government have proposed the great vision of building a harmonious society, and attention to vulnerable groups has been incorporated into various government policies. As the "third party" among social organizations, industry associations are in a weak position and lack more departments and relevant policies' attention. Moreover, the media often exaggerate the violations and incidents of "individual industry associations," causing the majority of industry associations, already vulnerable groups, to bear undeserved "reproach," damaging the reputation of full-time staff and discouraging their enthusiasm. If this happens, it will cause a situation where "enterprises do not understand, and the government complains more." Therefore, "the one who tied the bell must untie it." Only government departments stepping in to coordinate and clarify facts can resolve this awkward situation. Hence, handling relationships with government departments well is a basic requirement for doing a good job in industry associations currently.
Third, current Chinese industry associations must properly handle relationships with various social groups and public institutions to achieve mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, complementary advantages, and common development. Because various social organizations have different functions and positions, some public institutions in China currently actually belong to certain government departments as "dispatched agencies" and have certain administrative and financial powers, which industry associations do not possess. Even units bearing the "association" name have significant differences in functions and funding sources; some "individual associations" even have administrative functions, a unique phenomenon in China that is difficult to change in the short term. Therefore, as members of most industry associations, we should recognize this situation, face this objective reality, and strive to handle various complex relationships well under these circumstances, which will greatly help in doing a good job in our associations.
Fourth, industry associations should also pay attention to some "unwritten rules" existing in Chinese society. We have the right not to follow these "unwritten rules," but sometimes we have to comply with some of them. Because China is undergoing a major transition from old to new systems, some areas lack laws and regulations, and some industry work lacks rules to follow. Therefore, objectively, industry associations must creatively carry out work and must follow certain "unwritten rules." It should be noted that "unwritten rules" are not necessarily illegal or against regulations; this requires industry association workers to carefully distinguish right from wrong and act at the right time and place. In fact, some "unwritten rules" in society now have elements similar to "business credit."
3. "Professional Competence"
Industry associations belong to professional social groups within non-governmental organizations. They play an irreplaceable role in current Chinese social and economic life. Therefore, the "professional competence" of industry association practitioners is particularly important. Improving their professional level and work quality is especially urgent. What is "professional competence"? I believe it at least includes the association's professional organizational ability, the leadership's business development ability, and the practitioners' ability to solve professional problems.
The association's professional organizational ability includes organizing various domestic and international exchange activities, professional seminars, and international and domestic expos; organizing the formulation and revision of national industry standards, industry standards, and various technical specifications and procedures; completing government-assigned tasks and proposing problems and policy suggestions that enterprises in the industry need to solve; managing the association's professional website and industry magazines to provide relevant professional information to enterprises and society; organizing practitioners to provide good technical consultation and services and achieve good economic benefits. Of course, the association's professional organizational ability can only be implemented by combining the actual situation of the industry and proposing practical and feasible action plans and measures, and it must be continuously tested in social practice.
The pioneering business capability of the main leaders of an association is the primary indicator of whether the main person in charge of an association is competent. The main leaders of an association refer to the leading figures among the full-time staff of the association, some of whom are presidents, some are executive presidents, and some are secretaries-general, rather than "rotating presidents" appointed from entrepreneurs. Their pioneering business capability includes their foresight, predictability in judging the association's business, proposing relatively advanced work concepts and gradually putting them into action with practical operability. It also includes their understanding of national policies and comprehensive ability to properly handle business relations with relevant government departments, leading the association's full-time staff to successfully complete various tasks assigned by international and domestic organizations and government departments, and achieving corresponding income, reflecting the strength of a large industry association. Additionally, it includes their ability to manage relationships with domestic and foreign industry associations, seek various collaborations, and enhance the status and role of the industry association within its own and related industries.
The ability of practitioners to solve professional problems refers to each person working in an industry association being able to apply their knowledge and accumulated work experience and skills to perform full-time work. Full-time work ability includes the ability to solve comprehensive problems, such as writing skills, official affairs handling, interpersonal communication, industry public relations, organizing professional meetings, and temporarily representing the industry association to deliver special speeches. It also includes the ability to solve specific professional technical issues, provide valuable information, and answer specialized questions. Practitioners should also possess the qualities of a civil "think tank" worker, combining practical work to express opinions, write commentaries, and use the industry association's discourse power to propose policy suggestions and opinions to relevant government departments. Of course, improving each person's ability to solve professional problems is not easy and cannot be accomplished overnight. It depends on each individual designing their future development direction and value goals based on their characteristics and qualities, and it is also a collective improvement of the overall professional competence of the industry association's profession. At the same time, it determines the impact and improvement of the industry association's social and economic benefits. From my own work in the industry association, my ability to solve professional problems has improved in recent years but has not yet reached the expected goals. Some larger income projects are in front of us, but they cannot be completed due to insufficient professional ability.
4. "Local Skills"
The emergence and development of Chinese industry associations is a new phenomenon in the past 20 years. The composition of their practitioners is relatively complex, with many retired personnel and many young people recently joining industry associations, while there are few business backbones familiar with business and intermediary work within the collective of industry association professionals. The leadership of industry associations is also mostly retired cadres, with few true entrepreneur "rotating presidents," and most entrepreneur presidents and vice presidents of industry associations do not have the objective environment or subjective desire to provide the main funding for the association's activities. Therefore, under these circumstances, it is neither possible to completely copy the advanced management concepts and specific practices of foreign industry associations, nor to find perfect solutions for the survival and development of industry associations from existing Chinese university textbooks and articles written by government "think tank" researchers. Hence, to do a good job in industry association work, full-time staff must establish an "international perspective," a "Chinese heart," and possess "professional ability" while mastering a set of "local skills," which is the top priority for doing a good job in industry associations.
First, industry associations must make relevant national departments related to their business feel the necessity of the organization's existence. The organization cannot be ignored when organizing some major activities and doing professional work. In this regard, industry associations should strive to join some professional institutions and technical organizations related to government work and actively undertake the administrative and daily work of these professional institutions and technical organizations. For example, undertaking the work of a national professional standardization technical committee or market access work for a certain product or industry, with the secretariat work set within the industry association. Also, by cooperating with public institutions such as the National Health Ministry's Disease Prevention Center, undertaking certain work of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, binding the industry association with national public institutions and international organizations, and jointly carrying out certain tasks and partial work.
Second, industry associations must attract the "bosses" of large and good enterprises in the industry to gather around the organization based on the pursuit of maximizing corporate interests, making them feel the importance of the organization's existence. In this regard, industry associations must persistently reflect major issues affecting and restricting the development of the industry to the government to seek solutions. At the same time, through investigation and research, they should elevate practical issues to the level of theoretical guidance, propose and solve bottleneck problems that enterprises may encounter in development, and be able to propose strategic decisions and industry standards guiding enterprises toward sustainable development, scaling up, and upgrading. Cultivating and developing such large enterprises and providing good services to them can play a demonstrative role within the industry and is very important for improving the core competitiveness and cohesion of the industry association. For example, a few years ago, a certain enterprise in Shanghai developed a new fresh-enhancing seasoning to meet market development requirements and consumer demand, which was strongly opposed by some related associations and so-called "experts." However, the industry association I belong to actively supported it, guiding it fully from the perspective of public opinion discourse power and industry standard formulation. Today, that Shanghai enterprise has become a leading company in the industry, while the enterprises that originally opposed producing the product are now following suit but with far smaller scale and benefits. Our association has proven its "local skills" through this vivid fact. It also reflects our study of the important thought of the "Three Represents" and our effort to "keep pace with the times." After repeated reflection, I have drawn three conclusions: first, we saw clearly when other industry associations did not; second, we acted immediately when others hesitated; third, we succeeded when others were just preparing to act. Practice has deeply made us realize that if Chinese industry associations possess "local skills," they will achieve twice the result with half the effort, and vice versa.
Third, industry associations must do a good job in dealing with various media. It is well known that the discourse power of industry associations is very important in today's China. Some events are originally minor but are deliberately amplified by the media; some industry work requires public opinion support, but due to the small size of the industry and lack of publicity funds, industry associations have to rely on personal relationships formed over time to achieve publicity effects. These are all manifestations of "local skills." In this regard, industry associations must adhere to the following principles: first, do not "overstep," as association personnel speaking "government words" may give the impression of a "second government"; second, closely follow the public opinion guidance of the Central Propaganda Department, as some "minor matters" can have important publicity effects; third, when encountering "focal issues," "act when necessary," and after achieving publicity effects, quickly withdraw and leave follow-up issues to the government, because industry associations do not have the function to solve these problems; fourth, cooperate with professional newspapers, co-publish special issues, or serve as members of editorial committees to form fixed professional pages and expand the industry's discourse power.
Finally, it should be noted that industry associations must timely summarize the experiences and lessons learned in their work, especially continuously drawing profound lessons from various events. According to the scientific outlook on development and the requirements of building a harmonious society, they should carefully reflect on and consider past practices, prudently deciding whether to continue to carry forward or completely abandon them, whether to continue exploring or "cut losses decisively." Any hesitation or indecisiveness is absolutely unacceptable. This is also one of the "local skills" in industry association work.