People's Daily criticizes a certain region for turning public service into a "digital game": the data looks good, but public satisfaction has actually declined.

“Last year, 30k public complaints were resolved, and almost every one was handled—but the rate of repeat complaints rose year over year.” A staff member at a convenience hotline in the western part of the country made an observation that is quite thought-provoking.

With a resolution rate close to 100%, but a rising rate of repeat complaints, the issue reveals problems with the quality of handling: either cases are marked as “resolved” or “transferred” in the system without genuinely solving the underlying problem; or it’s treating the symptoms rather than the root causes—pressing down on a gourd only for it to pop up elsewhere……

Worse still, some localities, in pursuit of “good-looking data,” carry out “face projects,” reflecting an incorrect view of political achievements that treats “numbers” as “political performance” and uses “data” instead of real effectiveness. The consequence is that there is a gap between what the public actually feels and the statistical figures: the data looks better, yet public satisfaction declines.

It should be noted that the phenomenon of focusing only on data while ignoring real effectiveness is by no means isolated. In recent years, among the typical cases of rectifying formalism and reducing burdens on the grassroots that have been notified at the central level, some have spent money to buy a reputation and seek to climb the ranks on various lists such as “Top 100 Counties” and “Top 1,000 Towns.” Some have built large numbers of farmers’ reading rooms, but emphasize reconstruction over ongoing management, so their actual utilization rates keep dropping…… Data that should objectively reflect the real situation, once it is “inflated” or “beautified,” will “change in color and turn sour,” no longer serving as a “barometer” for economic and social development, but becoming instead some people’s “cover-up” and “staged performance.” Not only does it mislead decision-making and waste resources, it also damages the Party and the government’s credibility.

To work hard and seek development, we cannot fall into “a numbers game.” Not long ago, a news story drew widespread attention: in a certain city, in 2025 the gap between its gross regional product and the one-trillion-yuan mark was only “a final step.” Faced with this result, the local responsible official said, “Seek truth from facts and let events take their natural course,” and “Don’t get hung up on numbers or let numbers weigh you down—develop in a down-to-earth, practical way.” This response shows full respect for the laws governing economic growth and a clear-headed, pragmatic work style.

Real political achievements are never built by piling numbers together; they come from striving through solid work. Fake numbers cannot conceal what the public feels in their day-to-day life. What kind of political achievements there are is embodied in every brick and tile of renovations in old residential compounds, in the solid results of comprehensive rural revitalization, and in the process of solving urgent and pressing problems for the public such as employment, education, and healthcare. These achievements that ordinary people can see, touch, and feel carry far more truth and weight than any numbers.

It should also be seen that one important reason things that should be done for the people have instead turned into “a numbers game” is that the evaluation and assessment system has problems. Some higher-level units have a skewed view of political performance, setting targets detached from reality. At the grassroots level, with “policies from above and countermeasures below,” formalism is used to respond to bureaucratism, ultimately delaying undertakings, harming people’s livelihoods, and losing the support of the people.

To escape “a numbers game” and break short-sighted behavior, the key lies in figuring out clearly whose benefit political achievements are meant to build. If officials truly apply their energy to tackling development difficulties, improving people’s well-being, and enhancing governance effectiveness—doing more practical work that lays foundations, serves the long term, and benefits the public—then evaluations that go to the site more often, see concrete things more often, and listen to what the public says will ensure that those who really do the work earn recognition, while those who fabricate and stage performances have no room to maneuver. In that case, “a numbers game” will have nowhere to hide.

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