Key meeting to focus on Party building

One can appreciate the significance of the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which opens in Beijing on Monday, by understanding why Xi Jinping, China's top leader, defined the new journey toward national rejuvenation as a new "Long March" for the Party and the Chinese people.

While addressing a gathering marking the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March on Thursday, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, framed modern national ambitions through a historical lens, saying that strong Party leadership is vital to the victory on the new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects.

"We must uphold the Party's overall leadership and the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, persistently advance the Party's full and rigorous self-governance ... and ensure that the Party always remains a strong leadership core for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Xi said.

The main agenda of the fifth plenum is to study major issues on advancing the Party's full and rigorous self-governance, with the Political Bureau set to report its work to the CPC Central Committee, according to the official announcement.

Analysts said the key political meeting, which runs through Thursday, will offer global observers a vital perspective to understand how a century-old political party can maintain its vitality, drive high-quality national development and deliver benefits to the people amid global turbulence.

Wang Yiwei, vice-president of Academy of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at Renmin University of China, said that against a backdrop of global economic slowdown, geopolitical friction and technological competition, many countries are trapped in governance deadlocks.

"In this context, China's exploration of the Party's self-governance carries special reference value for other nations seeking stable and sustainable development paths," Wang said.

Emphasizing that the self-reform of the Party constitutes the fundamental political guarantee for China's development, he said this demonstrates that ruling parties can sustain long-term governance through self-reform.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, full and rigorous Party self-governance has become a central theme in the Party's efforts to strengthen itself and improve its governing capacity.

In December 2012, the central leadership of the CPC introduced the eight-point decision, a set of rules that aim to improve the conduct of the Party, curb official privileges, combat bureaucracy and corruption, and bring the Party closer to the people.

The broader anti-corruption campaign and discipline enforcement have been advanced through strengthened oversight, institutional refinement and sustained action to tackle misconduct among Party members and officials.

Since 2013, the CPC Central Committee has launched nine rounds of extensive study and education campaigns within the Party in order to guide the entire Party to keep its mission in mind and to always maintain its close bond with the people.

In addition, disciplinary inspection — a form of political supervision conducted by higher-level Party organizations over lower-level Party organizations to identify problems, create deterrents, drive reforms and promote development — has played an important role in strengthening the Party.

The 20th CPC Central Committee has conducted seven rounds of disciplinary inspections since 2023. The eighth round of disciplinary inspection is about to start, targeting the Party organizations of the Ministry of Education and 31 universities, according to an official announcement on Saturday.

With more than 100 million members and over 5 million primary-level organizations, the CPC has resolved the long-standing difficulty of weak grassroots governance through full and rigorous Party self-governance, and has extended Party leadership to every link of national governance. Grassroots Party organizations act as bridges connecting the State and society, ensuring that people's demands are heard and responded to in local governance practices.

Despite the significant progress made over the past decade, the Party's full and rigorous self-governance faces new circumstances and challenges amid profound changes in the international and domestic environments and in the evolving situation the Party faces.

While addressing the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January, Xi emphasized that the fight against corruption is a major struggle that the Party cannot afford to lose, and must never lose.

He said the current anti-corruption situation remains grave and complex, and the task of eliminating the soil and conditions that breed corruption remains arduous. It is essential to maintain a firm stance to leave corrupt officials with no place to hide, he added.

The fifth plenary session is expected to make new strategic arrangements for long-term and rigorous Party governance, adopt higher standards and take more concrete measures to address the prominent issues facing Party building, experts said.

The fifth plenary session is not about "enforcing discipline for the sake of discipline", but is about making the Party itself a more coherent, cleaner and more capable governing instrument, Xia Lu, a research fellow at Renmin University of China's National Academy for Development and Strategy, was quoted by China Global Television Network as saying.

Describing the session as "pivotal and bridging", Xia said it is expected to provide a strong political guarantee for high-quality development and the advancement of Chinese modernization.

Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, an essential component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, is considered to be systematic theoretical guidance for the practice of strengthening the Party.

Cheng Meidong, director of Peking University's Institute for Historical Studies of the CPC, said that Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building scientifically addresses the major question of what kind of long-term ruling Marxist party should be built and how to build it, holding practical and long-term significance in guiding the strengthening of both the Party and the nation.