Full and rigorous self-governance key to strengthening Party's leadership capacity: China Daily editorial

The fifth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which will be held in Beijing from Monday to Thursday, will focus on strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance. The session will be of great significance to both the Party and the nation.

The session will deliberate on a draft decision of the CPC Central Committee on several major issues related to advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance. The draft decision aims to address a critical governance challenge: how can a century-old political party continuously improve its leadership, institutional discipline and capacity for self-correction while guiding the country's development in a complex environment.

Effective leadership and good governance call for institutional competence, accountability, organizational cohesion and the ability to identify and rectify problems. The stronger the Party's capacity to govern itself, the stronger its capacity to govern the country.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has built up a systematic framework of political discipline, institutional oversight, anti-corruption enforcement and organizational reform.

The anti-corruption campaign these years has markedly reinforced the institutional framework that emphasizes timely detection, accurate identification and effective resolution of all forms of corruption.

But the fight against corruption must be pursued with greater sobriety and resolve, requiring an unswerving high-pressure posture to be maintained. The objective is to confine power to an institutional cage through more scientific and effective efforts so as to make responsible conduct the norm.

This is particularly important as China implements its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), which requires coordinating industrial upgrading, technological innovation, ecological protection and social welfare nationwide.

In such a big country, even well-designed policies can falter if local implementation is hampered by bureaucratic inertia, fragmented responsibilities or shortsighted pursuits.

Full and rigorous Party self-governance aims to resolve precisely these shortcomings. It will ensure the CPC Central Committee's major policy decisions and arrangements are implemented with stronger determination and vigor. Stronger political accountability can improve policy consistency, while effective inspection and supervision can identify implementation failures and ensure corrective measures are carried out promptly.

Recent developments underscore the importance of this approach. On Friday, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee reviewed a report on the seventh round of disciplinary inspections, calling for effective rectification of identified issues.

The following eighth round of disciplinary inspections, covering 32 entities, including the Ministry of Education and leading universities, extends oversight into sectors key to China's long-term development and to matters of public concern.

By constantly striving for self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-improvement, the Party can enhance its political leadership, ideological guidance, capacity to organize the people and ability to rally society so that it always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will guide the Party to continuously strengthen its building and self-governance with higher standards and more concrete measures.

The session thus carries strategic significance far beyond Party discipline. It concerns a crucial part of the institutional framework of China's high-quality development and the governing system's capacity to remain effective amid the changing circumstances.

Upholding and strengthening overall Party leadership and persistently advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance hold the key to turning the blueprint of Chinese modernization into concrete achievements that deliver tangible benefits to the people.