Five years ago, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the “Study Xi, Strong Nation” app to brainwash the Chinese people, forcing a large number of citizens to study every day and using it as a means to reinforce personal worship of the CCP leader. However, rumors have recently surfaced that the mandatory studying requirement has come to an end, and after investigation by journalists from Epoch Times, the authenticity of these rumors has been confirmed.
On September 17th, independent scholar Gao Falin, who has over 300,000 followers, disclosed on the social media platform X that the “Study Xi, Strong Nation” app has been completely discontinued.
Gao Falin stated that he received a joyful message from domestic friends before the Mid-Autumn Festival, “Today I received a notice in the group chat: the compulsory checking and registration for the Study Xi, Strong Nation app, which has been enforced for five years, will no longer be assessed by superiors from now on. There is no need to log in daily anymore. Since the end of last year, it has actually been in a dilapidated state, with the backend unable to track who has not logged in. This time marks the end once and for all.”
The news was widely shared on the X platform.
Journalists from Epoch Times recently contacted members of the Chinese Communist Party, government officials, and state-owned enterprise employees in various provinces of China to confirm the information, and it was found to be largely true.
Wang Gang (pseudonym), a medical staff member at Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital, shared a message similar to Gao Falin’s account. He informed Epoch Times on September 19th, “Our unit has uninstalled the ‘Study Xi, Strong Nation’ app. Two days ago, it was announced in the group chat that there will no longer be assessments on the registration of ‘Study Xi, Strong Nation’ within the hospital.”
Zhang Liang (pseudonym), a staff member at a comprehensive administrative enforcement department in Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province, also stated, “There is no longer a requirement to study now, there hasn’t been any demand since 2022. The requirement mainly depends on the ‘consciousness of leadership,’ we’ve had several leadership changes.”
Fang Hua (pseudonym), a primary school teacher in Anhui Province, expressed that there is no longer a compulsory study requirement, and the app can still be used. She said, “Back then, there were requirements; I have accumulated a total of 50,000 points. I have been studying for over four years, but missed one year due to giving birth.”
Additionally, a netizen from Shaanxi and a staff member in the education system from Henan both separately mentioned that there are no longer requirements for compulsory study and earning points.
However, certain provinces still have related study requirements. Zhao Li (pseudonym), a woman from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, informed Epoch Times that her husband, a party member in the railway system unit, is required to study and check in. “There is something on the mobile phone that needs to be clicked, after clicking, it will make a sound. If it is not clicked, or if there is a pause in between, it is not allowed.”
Zhao Li stated that it’s all just a formality, fooling each other. “The unit requires party members to study and then write learning notes. But they don’t have time at work, so they distribute material for everyone to copy at home.” She explained, “My husband is too lazy to copy, so I end up copying for him every time, only writing the subject and predicate, skipping adjectives, simplifying the writing, and enlarging the characters. I’ve been copying for at least three years.”
The “Study Xi, Strong Nation” app is a theoretical learning platform launched by the CCP Central Propaganda Department, with Xi Jinping’s “Xi Thought” as its primary content. It officially went online on January 1, 2019. The “Xi” in its name means both study and Xi Jinping’s surname.
After its launch, CCP media praised it for its “authoritative content,” “rich content,” and “distinct characteristics,” promoting it forcefully to all party members. According to mainland netizens, university students, primary and secondary school students (and their parents), state-owned enterprises, educational enterprises, and an increasing number of Chinese companies were required to use it. At one point, “Study Xi, Strong Nation” became the most downloaded free application in the Apple China App Store.
The platform also introduced a point-based learning system for employer and superior assessment and reward and punishment. It was revealed that logging in daily earns 1 point, reading an article or watching a video each earns 1 point, and additional points are given for longer reading or viewing durations. There were also various quiz and exam tasks on the platform, with more points awarded for answering all correctly. To prevent party members from earning points during work hours, the platform set three non-working time slots for “active periods” where learning would earn double points. The aforementioned teacher from Anhui, Fang Hua, mentioned that she needs to accumulate 42 points daily to pass.
This type of political brainwashing task imposed by CCP officials is seen as a means to strengthen the personal worship of Xi Jinping.
Political commentator Henghe believes that the cessation of mandatory use of the “Study Xi, Strong Nation” app could be a result of a blow to Xi Jinping’s authority. He told Epoch Times, “Personal worship is like this, it can rise but not fall. Everyone praises him to lift him up, but as they praise more fervently, the temperature doesn’t decrease on its own. If it decreases, it must be due to something happening.”
Henghe cited Mao Zedong’s handling of the “Great Leap Forward” failure in the past, where after messing up, he dealt with it quietly and let others take the spotlight. At that time, Mao Zedong’s power had actually suffered a significant setback, leading to him withdrawing from his supervisory position, which then triggered his later retaliation through the “Cultural Revolution.”
“There are also certain politically correct concepts within the CCP. For example, after the end of the Cultural Revolution, a consensus was reached to not engage in personal worship. Xi’s promotion of personal worship after coming to power violates this rule. After breaking this rule, there may be certain stronger factions within the party hoping to find a suitable and widely accepted reason to challenge some of his sharpness.” He said.
Wang Juntao, co-chairman of the National Committee of the China Democracy Party, had a slightly different perspective. He told Epoch Times that the decision to cease the compulsory use of the “Study Xi, Strong Nation” app, a decision that others dare not make, is definitely made by Xi himself. He added that Xi might have made the decision passively or actively.
Wang Juntao stated, “Engaging in personal worship is mainly for seizing power. Because the bigwigs of various factions are at the top, if they want to get rid of them, they can use personal worship and party discipline requirements to weaken the basic power of these bigwigs at the middle and lower levels. But these bigwigs are basically out of the picture now.
“Mao Zedong heavily promoted personal worship in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution,” he said. “However, after around 1968, when he had essentially taken down Liu Shaoqi, he started to focus on restoring production and construction, and toned down the personal worship. At that time, personal loyalty to him was no longer the main focus every day.
“Whether Xi Jinping’s actions are passive or active, it indicates that he is in a difficult position, and his previous approach is no longer viable. He needs to adjust. Is he creating space for others to make adjustments, or is he adjusting himself? I think he is currently undecided.”