CPC issues plan to update key regulations

The Communist Party of China will amend and add to a set of its key rules within five years to improve its internal management and supervision, according to a plan issued on Wednesday.

The plan, the first of its kind since the CPC's founding in 1921, sets guidelines, goals, tasks and requirements for the Party's making of regulations from 2013 to 2017.

"Facing the new situation and new missions, the current intra-Party regulatory system should be improved to be more systematic and integrated," the CPC Central Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. "Some fundamental or urgently needed regulations have yet to be made, failing to meet the demands of our missions and development."

It said the plan will gradually advance the making of intra-Party regulations and strengthen the Party's governance capability, adding that power will in future be executed with stricter restrictions and supervision.

The plan requires that the formation of CPC rules must conform to China's Constitution and laws as well as the Party constitution. Rule makers must solicit opinions and suggestions from Party members in drafting intra-Party regulations.

Current regulations that have become outdated or inconsistent with others will be abolished or revised, it added.

The CPC began to check its intra-Party regulations in July 2012 and identify those that needed to be removed or altered. The first phase of the effort focused on documents issued from 1978, the year the CPC initiated the reform and opening-up, to 2012, and concluded in September. In the process, 300 regulations were abolished, with the remaining 467 staying in place but 42 identified as in need of amendment.

The second phase, which began in October and will end in December 2014, targets regulations published from 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, to 1978.

Wu Hui, an associate professor of governance at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said: "There are still some loopholes in the Party's inner regulatory system. Some of the regulations are not able to serve the current situation while some cannot coordinate with others, or even contradict them."

He expected the plan to set a comprehensive road map to make new intra-Party regulations and integrate them with current ones.

"In addition, the leadership should pay equal attention to the implementation of the rules after they are issued, and make sure those who violate them are exposed and punished," he said.

The Party has taken a host of measures to enhance its governance capability and pledged to root out all corrupt officials since its new leadership took office in November 2012. A raft of officials has since come under investigation for alleged misconduct and violations of law.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Guo You-ming, vice-governor of Hubei, is being investigated on suspicion of "serious violation of disciplines and laws", according to a statement from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. It did not give further details of the investigation.