Tempering a strong disciplinary shield guarantee for advancing modernization: China Daily editorial

The fifth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is being held in Beijing from Monday to Wednesday, is a key meeting to consolidate the achievements the Party has made in full and rigorous self-governance. The meeting is expected to provide a strong political and disciplinary guarantee for advancing China's modernization.

Over the past year, the 20th CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to discipline inspection and supervision work. This was clearly demonstrated at the meeting of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on Nov 28 last year, which reviewed a comprehensive report on disciplinary inspection missions covering all provincial-level regions. The inspections found that while progress has been made, deep-seated problems remain, requiring resolute rectification and sustained pressure. The CPC Central Committee Political Bureau's meeting underscored the Party leadership's firm determination to confront problems head-on.

The ongoing plenary session is expected to translate this determination into systematic arrangements. It will review the work of the CCDI and the National Commission of Supervision in 2025 and chart the course for improving Party conduct, upholding integrity and combating corruption in 2026. This is a strategic deployment closely linked with the country's broader governance goals in the new development stage.

Addressing the session on Monday, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called for advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance with higher standards and more concrete measures.

In 2025, discipline inspection and supervision organs at all levels deepened their political and disciplinary supervision to ensure that the major decisions and plans of the central leadership were implemented without deviation. They continued to enforce the central leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct, addressed misconduct and corruption simultaneously, and focused on rectifying problems that directly affect people's interests. The completion of inspections of all provincial-level regions marked a significant step forward in enhancing the authority and effectiveness of supervision and achieving full coverage.

This year marks the beginning of a new five-year plan, a crucial stage for promoting the country's high-quality development and consolidating the new development paradigm. Ensuring that officials have a correct understanding of what it means to perform well, and that power is exercised within an institutional cage, is essential to transforming the policy blueprint into concrete results.

Rather than being constraints on development, discipline inspection and supervision are vital safeguards for sound governance and sustainable growth. This is reflected in the CCDI session, which aims to advance law-based governance. Comprehensively strengthening the rule of law is a fundamental requirement for the country's modernization. The ongoing effort to strengthen legal thinking and legal approaches in anti-corruption work reflects the Party's growing emphasis on institutional solutions and long-term mechanisms to standardize the implementation of Party discipline and State law.

The focus of the session is therefore on sustained efforts to improve Party conduct. Leading officials at various levels must take the lead in enforcing discipline, opposing pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance, and foster a political environment that values diligent work and practical results. The session is expected to further reinforce this message, stressing that improving conduct is a long-term task that must be pursued consistently and relentlessly.

At a deeper level, the session embodies the Party's clear understanding that self-reform is the most powerful engine for maintaining its vitality. By addressing both the symptoms and root causes of corruption, intensifying oversight over top officials and strengthening the contingent of discipline inspection and supervision personnel, the Party aims to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt. This comprehensive approach reflects a mature governance philosophy rooted in both strict discipline and institutional confidence.

That being said, the fifth plenary session of the 20th CCDI will not only summarize past experience, but also set higher standards and clearer requirements for the future. Its outcomes will help ensure that the Party remains united, disciplined and clean in the new five-year journey. By forging a strong disciplinary shield and a healthy political ecosystem, the session will play a crucial role in safeguarding the steady and long-term advance of Chinese modernization.