South Reviews Issue No. 23, 2016

Reshaping the Political Ecology

South Reviews Issue No. 23, 2016

During the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in Beijing from October 24 to 27, 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a work report. “The Norms of Political Life within the Party under the Current Conditions” and “The Regulations on Intra-Party Supervision” were adopted, as well as a resolution on convening the 19th CPC National Congress.

Comprehensive strengthening of Party discipline was the theme of this plenum. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has played an exemplary role in firmly promoting strict governance of the Party, and institutional building and ideological building have advanced hand-inhand. Improvement of the working style and severe punishment for corruption have purified the political environment and won the hearts of Party members and the people, ushering in a new era for the Party and the nation.

The new norms and regulations summarize the experiences and lessons on strengthening Party building and pinpoint prominent problems of intra-Party political life and supervision. The two documents are based on a full discussion of the Central Committee’s practice in promoting strict governance of the Party in an all-around way since the 18th CPC Nation Congress. They form a new arrangement of institutions to ensure intra-Party political life and supervision are more institutionalized and standardized in a normalization process.

The meeting emphasized that high-ranking officials, especially members of the top leadership of the CPC Central Committee, should set an example in abiding by the Party’s rules and regulations, strictly observe political discipline and norms, and play vanguard roles for all Party members and society.

An intra-Party supervision system should be established under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, with comprehensive supervision by Party committees, special supervision by a discipline inspection authority, functional supervision by working departments, daily supervision by grassroots Party organizations, and democratic supervision by Party members. It is a breakthrough that adds a new chapter of supervision to the Party’s central organization in the revision of intra-Party supervision regulations.

This plenum formally proposed to unite closely around “the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.” This is to safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee and to ensure a united and consolidated Party leadership. It also has the profound and far-reaching effect of uniting the whole Party and military, as well as uniting peoples of all ethnic groups towards overcoming difficulties.