Ongoing education, learning at heart of success

Fine tradition of the Party helps nation draw strength and make progress

The fine tradition of learning and education among members of the Communist Party of China has helped the Party think big and keep improving its capacity to govern the world's most populous nation, experts said. Systematic and regular intraparty education has also helped the world's largest ruling political party to cope with complex and grave challenges during its development following its founding a century ago, they said. Established in July 1921, the CPC has grown from a political party with just a few dozen members to an entity that governs a country of 1.4 billion people. Standing the test of time, it has led the country to make steady progress toward prosperity and become the world's second-largest economy.

While uniting the Chinese people to achieve long-term economic growth and social stability, the CPC has also led the country to become an important player on the international stage and actively participate in global governance in an open, inclusive and cooperative manner.

In the long history of leading the Chinese revolution, construction and reform, the CPC has developed itself through continuous learning, said Guo Weiwei, a researcher at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee. It is a valuable historical experience for the Party to attach importance to and be good at learning, Guo added.

Generations of the leaders have paid great attention to intraparty education to make the CPC a political party committed to learning in order to equip its members and officials with strong political beliefs, theoretical mindsets and the up-to-date know-how essential to ruling the country over the long term and better serve the people.

For example, when China unveiled the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping, the leader, called on all Party members to acquire new knowledge and experiences that would contribute to the country's development and actively learn from "all the useful results from the development of human civilization". Through learning, innovation and reform, China has blazed a path of "socialism with Chinese characteristics".

Stronger beliefs

Since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, he has, on many occasions, underscored the importance of learning for all Party members to enable them to have stronger ideals and beliefs and build the CPC into a more powerful political party.

"To forge iron, one must be strong," Xi said in his first public address after being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. His words spurred the whole Party to strengthen learning and carry out self-reform.

After the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC initiated an education campaign for the observance of the "Three Stricts and Three Earnests", which urged officials to maintain disciplinary and moral integrity. These measures have helped the Party curb undesirable practices, such as complacency and bureaucracy, and have strengthened its cohesion and effectiveness.

When delivering a report on behalf of the CPC Central Committee at the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, Xi said, "We will foster a Marxist style of learning and make it a regular practice and an institutionalized requirement for all Party members to gain a good command of the Party Constitution, Party regulations and related major policies, and to meet Party standards."

He also said: "We should be good at learning. We will foster a strong atmosphere of learning and practicing in the Party, and build our Party into a Marxist learning party."

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the CPC's founding, the Party has launched a campaign of Party history learning and education among its members to draw strength from its glorious past and advance the country's modernization drive.

The campaign comes at a critical juncture at which the CPC is set to achieve its first centenary goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embark on a journey toward the second aim, which is to fully build China into a modern socialist country by the middle of the century.

With a focus on reviewing the glorious journey of the CPC's centurylong struggle, the campaign aims to guide all Party members to fully understand the Party's great contributions to the nation as well as the fundamental purpose of the Party to serve the people, according to a circular issued by the CPC Central Committee in February.

"No matter how far we have traveled … we shall never forget the past and never forget why we started our journey in the first place," Xi told his fellow CPC members at the launch of the campaign.

Xi said that by learning the Party's history CPC members can gain experience and draw lessons from the past, boosting their confidence as they continue the quest.

Observers said that the Party history educational campaign, together with previous thematic education campaigns such as "staying true to our founding mission", will become part of the prelude to China's journey to success.

Zhang Ruikun, a professor of political science at Shandong Institute of Socialism, said that amid the profound changes unseen in a century, China will have to confront various risks and challenges on its new journey of fully building a modern socialist country.

"We need to draw wisdom and strength from the 'best textbook' of the Party's centurylong struggle, maintain strategic focus and march toward our goal of national rejuvenation," Zhang said.

In addition to the education campaigns, the CPC also has conducted intraparty learning in other forms, such as training sessions for officials at Party schools, group study organized by Party organizations at various levels and Party members' self-learning efforts.

Among others, the regular group study sessions of China's top leadership are a clear indication of the CPC's progress in improving its governance capacity after the 25-member Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee commenced the institutionalized practice in 2002. They also demonstrate the Party's scientific and democratic policymaking process via discussions and information sharing.