The fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held from Oct 26 to 29 in Beijing, adopted a resolution on persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance. The document, and the broader deliberations that produced it, mark more than a routine tightening of internal discipline. They represent a further stage in the Party's deliberate effort to define what it means to be a long-term governing Marxist party, and to create the conditions under which that role can be successfully fulfilled.
At the heart of the resolution lies a recognition that has guided the Party through successive historical stages: Leadership requires continuous self-examination and the capacity for self-improvement. The Party does not treat its authority as a settled inheritance. It treats it as a responsibility that must be continually earned through rigorous internal standards, organizational vitality and the ability to identify and correct its own shortcomings. In this sense, the Party positions itself as both the catalyst and the principal driver of its own renewal.
This orientation has deep historical roots. In its revolutionary period, the Party developed a sophisticated theoretical and practical understanding of itself as a vanguard force. Marxism-Leninism supplied a powerful framework for analyzing class struggle, state power and the seizure of political authority. Yet it did not furnish a fully elaborated theory of the socialist state once political power had been secured, nor a complete blueprint for the long-term governance of a complex modern society. The revolutionary party had to become a governing party.
That transition raised a new set of questions: What kind of party is capable of serving as the vanguard of development, institutional construction and continuous modernization? What organizational, political and ethical qualities must it cultivate in order to remain equal to that task over decades rather than years?
The resolution adopted at the fifth plenum is part of the ongoing effort to answer those questions in the concrete conditions of the new era. It builds on the substantial achievements of full and rigorous self-governance since the 18th National Congress.
The resolution also frankly acknowledges that new circumstances — in the world, in the country and within the Party itself — are generating new tests. The emphasis on strengthening the Party spirit, upholding democratic centralism, building high-caliber cadres, tightening organizational systems, improving conduct and discipline, advancing the integrated fight against corruption, and perfecting institutional and supervisory arrangements is not merely defensive. It is constructive. These measures are designed to enhance the Party's capacity to lead, to innovate and to remain closely connected to the people whose interests it aims to serve.
A distinctive Chinese disposition informs this approach. Reflection on the century of humiliation did not stop at cataloging the aggression of external powers. It reached the harder conclusion that such a prolonged period of vulnerability was also because of China's own internal weaknesses. The analytical and political response was therefore not primarily one of external blame, but of self-accountability. The focus of effort was to overcome division, backwardness and organizational frailty so that the nation could never again be subjected to the same conditions. That disposition — the insistence on holding oneself to account as the primary condition of strength — continues to shape the Party's understanding of governance. External challenges are real and must be met and overcome; yet the decisive variable remains the quality, cohesion and self-correcting capacity of the Party itself.
In this light, the resolution can be read as a further clarification of the Party's contemporary role. It is no longer sufficient to understand the Party solely through the categories of revolution. It must also be understood as the central institution responsible for governing a large, complex and rapidly evolving society; for steering long-term development strategies; and for maintaining the political conditions under which those strategies can succeed. The theoretical and organizational work required for this role is ongoing. Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, which has emerged in response to the question of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party the CPC should become and how it should be built, provides the contemporary framework. The resolution translates that framework into systematic requirements and institutional priorities.
The practical implications are clear. A governing party that does not continuously renew its own capacities risks losing the ability to lead effectively. Self-governance is therefore not an internal housekeeping exercise separate from the larger tasks of national rejuvenation and modernization; it is a necessary condition of their achievement. By insisting on rigorous standards, problem-oriented methods and the combination of principle with innovation, the Party seeks to ensure that its organizational form remains equal to the historical tasks it has set itself.
The fifth plenum's resolution does not claim to have settled every question once and for all. It does, however, reaffirm a central conviction that the Party's ability to lead rests on its willingness and capacity to examine itself, to correct itself and to raise its own standards without waiting for external compulsion. In an era of profound change, that commitment to perpetual improvement remains the most reliable foundation for long-term governance.
The author is an adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology in Australia and a former policy adviser to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
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