Xi urges advancing Party self-governance with higher standards, more concrete measures

BEIJING -- General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on the morning of Jan 12. He emphasized the need to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership, exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance with higher standards and more concrete measures, implement the major decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee more resolutely and effectively, confine power to an institutional cage in a more well-conceived and effective manner, and press ahead with the anti-corruption fight in a more sensible and resolute way, thus providing a strong guarantee for achieving the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the meeting. Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI, presided over the meeting.

Xi pointed out that in 2025, the CPC Central Committee intensified efforts to improve Party conduct, uphold integrity and combat corruption, achieving notable results. Efforts were made to strengthen political supervision and deepen political inspections, thus effectively ensuring the implementation of the major decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee. Educational activities were earnestly carried out to thoroughly implement the spirit of the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, promoting the whole Party to further improve its work conduct and foster a fresh atmosphere. Efforts were also made to maintain a tough stance on fighting corruption, promote the simultaneous investigation and treatment of work conduct issues and corruption, further address unhealthy tendencies and corruption on people's doorstep, and strive to eliminate the breeding ground and conditions for corruption.

Xi emphasized that implementing the major decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee is a fundamental requirement for upholding its authority and its centralized, unified leadership, and also an important historical experience for making continuous progress for the cause of the Party and the people. The 15th Five-Year Plan period is critical for reinforcing the foundations and pushing ahead on all fronts toward basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. Party organizations at all levels and all Party members and officials must enhance their sense of political responsibility and historical mission, and implement all the decisions and plans of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee with concrete actions. All efforts must center around applying the new development philosophy, promoting high-quality development, and moving faster to create a new pattern of development. The focus should be placed on such tasks as building a modernized industrial system, developing new productive forces in light of local conditions, establishing a unified national market, expanding high-standard opening up, promoting common prosperity for all, preventing relapse into or occurrence of poverty on a regular basis, resolving local governments' hidden debts, strengthening ecological and environmental protection, and ensuring both development and security. It is imperative to enhance precise, targeted, and regular supervision and inspection; make good use of inspection outcomes; and strengthen oversight of rectification efforts to ensure that the major decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee are fully implemented. All regions and departments should, in light of their actual circumstances, earnestly explore effective ways and means to implement the major decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee. This year will see the start of local leadership transitions, and those who are truly loyal and reliable, consistent in words and deeds, and responsible must be placed on important positions, Xi said.

Xi noted that the key to the Party's self-reform lies in governing power, and caging the power with institutions is a crucial task for advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance in the new era. Following the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party Central Committee initiated this endeavor by formulating and implementing the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct, establishing ironclad rules and enforcing stringent constraints, thus bringing a fresh look to the conduct of the Party and the government. To confine power within an institutional cage, it is imperative not only to improve institutional regulations to make the system tight but not cumbersome, effective and practical, but also to intensify the enforcement of laws and regulations to strengthen their binding force. It is a must to make sure that everyone is equal before the law, regulations and institutions, and to ensure compliance with them admits no privilege, and their enforcement allows no exception, so that institutional regulations function as a deterrent. Leading officials must take the lead in abiding by rules and regulations. Efforts must be made to enhance publicity and education about laws and regulations, guiding Party members and officials to better understand laws and rules, comprehend discipline, and develop a sense of self-discipline to know where to draw the line. Transparency in Party and government affairs must be further increased to ensure power is exercised transparently.

Xi emphasized that corruption is a stumbling block to the cause of the Party and the country, and the fight against corruption is a major struggle that the Party cannot afford to lose and must never lose. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, our Party has successfully blazed a distinct path to fighting corruption with Chinese characteristics under the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, by addressing both the symptoms and root causes of corruption and taking integrated steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to become corrupt. We must stay resolutely on this path. At present, the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the task of eradicating the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption remains arduous and formidable. We must maintain a tough stance toward this struggle with the strongest will, fight every corrupt phenomenon, punish every corrupt element, and ensure that corruption is completely eradicated, leaving no place for corrupt elements to hide. We must grasp the new trends and characteristics of corruption, innovate methods and approaches, improve the mechanisms to hold those in charge accountable for fight against corruption, promptly identify, accurately recognize, and effectively address various forms of corruption, and continuously enhance the penetrating power of anti-corruption efforts. Efforts must be intensified to take coordinated steps, apply stronger systems thinking, strengthen coordination and cooperation, and align supervision in all aspects to boost integrated governance with coordination within the entire chain.

Xi noted that discipline inspection and supervision departments shoulder great responsibilities and honorable missions in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and the Party's self-reform. He said that they must firmly maintain the Party's solidarity and unity, and firmly safeguard the Party's advanced nature and integrity. They must continue efforts to render disciplinary inspection and supervision work more standardized, institutionalized and law-based, and keep improving the quality and efficiency of discipline and law enforcement. They must also, in accordance with the requirements of political commitment, competence, venerable conduct and corruption-free nature, foster a strong team of disciplinary inspection and supervision personnel who are loyal, upright, and responsible and have the courage and ability to carry out the fight.

While presiding over the meeting, Li Xi noted that, in his important speech, General Secretary Xi fully affirmed the remarkable results yielded in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance over the past year. At the critical phase of basically realizing socialist modernization, full and rigorous Party self-governance must be exercised with higher standards and more practical measures to provide a strong guarantee for achieving the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Xi's speech has made strategic arrangements for this. The speech is insightful and in depth, broad in perspective, profound in thought, and rich in content, providing fundamental guidelines for further exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and fighting against corruption. It is imperative to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi's important speech, profoundly understand the decisive significance of the Two Affirmations, strengthen the awareness of the Four Consciousnesses and Four Confidences, resolutely act on the Two Upholds, and earnestly fulfill the political responsibilities for exercising the full and rigorous Party self-governance. With perseverance and resolve of an ongoing endeavor, we must unwaveringly further advance the Party's self-reform.

Those who attended the meeting include members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, vice chairpersons of the Central Military Commission, leading officials of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, state councilors, president of the Supreme People's Court, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, leading officials of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as members of the Central Military Commission.

Also present at the meeting were members of the CCDI, leading officials of the relevant central Party and state departments, people's organizations, and relevant units of the military. The meeting was held via teleconference, with sub-venues set up in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, as well as in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and relevant units of the military.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CCDI of the CPC opened in Beijing on Jan. 12. The Standing Committee of the CCDI presided over the session. On the afternoon of Jan. 12, Li Xi, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the CCDI, delivered a work report titled "Advancing Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance with Higher Standards and More Concrete Measures to Provide Strong Guarantee for Achieving the Goals and Tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan."