Party deepens self-reform to advance path

Upholding the spirit of reform and deepening the Communist Party of China's self-reform are keys to the Party's leading all walks of life in advancing Chinese modernization and achieving national rejuvenation in the new era, experts said.

They emphasized that while facing difficulties and challenges on the path to modernization and rejuvenation, it is even more crucial for the Party to firmly uphold the spirit of reform and continuously intensify self-reform, as the Party's self-improvement is a political guarantee for social development.

They made the comments after the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection concluded its fourth plenary session in Beijing last week.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important speech at the session, stressing the significance of rigorous Party governance with the spirit of reform and reiterating that the battle against corruption is an unceasing endeavor.

Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, noted that it is imperative to make greater progress in governing the Party to ensure that the Party will continue to be the strong leadership core in building socialism with Chinese characteristics and to guarantee the steady advancement of Chinese modernization on the new journey in the new era.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi has highlighted on multiple occasions the implementation and improvement of rigorous governance of the Party, and unprecedented anti-corruption efforts have been made across the country.

In January 2023, when the 20th CCDI, the country's top anti-corruption watchdog, opened its second plenary session, Xi stressed the need for ceaseless efforts to promote full and rigorous Party self-governance.

In October last year, when conducting an inspection tour in Anhui province, Xi emphasized the need to uphold Party leadership, clarifying that it is necessary to consistently strengthen Party building.

According to the latest data released by the CCDI, a total of 73 officials at minister level or above were placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation last year, with cases also filed against 104,000 current or former village committee heads or at the grassroots level.

A year ago, at the third plenary session of the 20th CCDI, Xi pointed out that leading the great social revolution is the fundamental purpose of advancing the Party's self-reform, which he said should be promoted so that its governance will better serve its main tasks.

Zhuang Deshui, deputy head of Peking University's Research Center of Public Policy, said, "The current task of the Party is to advance Chinese modernization and national rejuvenation, which is also our country's ongoing social revolution.

"Whether the task can be accomplished and whether the social revolution can succeed depend on the Party," Zhuang said. "Specifically, it's up to the Party to arrange the work of various industries, gather the force of all sectors and solve problems in different fields on the way to modernization.

"Therefore, the Party must optimize its own governance through self-reform, with sustained efforts to eradicate the soil for corruption. Only in this way can the Party be the 'backbone' of the people in the social revolution."

Zhuang praised the spirit of reform that was highlighted by Xi last week, saying that it is consistent with the self-reform that Xi has repeatedly emphasized in recent years.

In Zhuang's view, the spirit of self-reform will be more conducive to the Party solving difficulties and challenges at home and abroad in the new era.

"The more difficulties the country encounters, the more it must unswervingly exercise full and rigorous Party governance, because the Party's self-improvement is a political guarantee for the realization of social revolution," Zhuang added.

Yang Weidong, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that the spirit of reform will be more helpful to the self-improvement of the Party and thus enable it to lead the people in overcoming difficulties in various areas.

More rigorous governance

The two experts also noted that the increasingly rigorous governance of the Party has played a bigger role in ensuring that Party members and officials do not dare to, are unable to, and have no desire to indulge in corruption.

"For example, the disciplinary supervision of Party members and officials was previously limited to their working hours, but now it has been extended to include outside working hours and their families," Zhuang said.

A documentary recently aired in China showed that Tang Yijun, former governor of Liaoning province and minister of justice, used companies controlled by his wife, Xuan Minjie, as a cover-up for his corrupt activities to present them as market operations.

Based on clues and thanks to big data, the investigators uncovered shadow companies, suspected proxies and bribe givers linked to Xuan, who had extensive experience in finance and economics and ventured into business in 2005, after holding a senior position at a State-owned enterprise.

In October, the Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the arrest of Tang on suspicion of accepting bribes. He was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office earlier.

Zhuang said that such extensive investigation is necessary to regulate the behavior of Party members, noting that the Party's self-governance has also been improved by disciplinary education, amendments to the disciplines and campaigns against misconduct closely related to people's well-being.

According to data released by the CCDI, 768,000 cases of misconduct and corruption that directly affected people's daily lives, including school meals and medical insurance, have been handled since 2022, with 628,000 individuals disciplined.

"All the efforts mean that the standards or requirements for Party members and officials have been increased, and are higher and more rigorous," Zhuang said.

Yang, the law professor, said that self-improvement as well as self-reform will make the CPC more confident and capable in solving problems on the journey of Chinese modernization and in promoting the people's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security in the new era.