Central Commission for Discipline Inspection plenary session adopts communique

The 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Wednesday adopted a communique at its third plenary session, which was held from Monday to Wednesday in Beijing.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the plenary session and delivered an important speech.

Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the session.

The plenary session, presided over by the Standing Committee of the CCDI, reviewed the discipline inspection and supervision work during 2023 and assigned tasks for 2024. It deliberated and adopted the work report delivered by Li Xi on behalf of the Standing Committee of the CCDI.

The attendees earnestly studied and fully digested the important speech delivered by Xi during the plenary session. They agreed that Xi's speech had provided scientific answers to major questions regarding the Party's self-reform and included strategic plans for continuing and deepening the fight against corruption.

Xi's important thought on the Party's self-reform serves as basic guidelines for promoting full and rigorous Party self-governance, improving conduct and building integrity, and combating corruption on the new journey in the new era, the communique noted.

It was pointed out at the plenary session that the year 2023 marked the first year of full implementation of the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, and it also witnessed China's economic recovery and growth after achieving a smooth transition in COVID-19 response efforts.

The Standing Committee of the CCDI strengthened political oversight in line with the strategic plans of the 20th CPC National Congress, intensified efforts to crack down on corruption and consolidated an overwhelming victory in its anti-corruption fight, according to the communique.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi has led the whole Party in advancing full and rigorous self-governance with unprecedented determination and force. He has put forward a series of original and landmark concepts, thoughts and strategies, which formed Xi Jinping thought on the Party's self-reform and guided the CPC, a large political party with a history of over 100 years, in opening a new frontier in self-reform, the communique said.

This thought, a new chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, has signaled that the Party's understanding of the laws underlying the development of a Marxist political party and the laws underlying the governance of a communist party has reached a new height, the communique said.

The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and will be a critical year for fulfilling the goals and tasks set by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the communique noted.

In this year's work of discipline inspection and supervision, the communique said the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era should be upheld, Xi Jinping thought on the Party's self-reform should be carefully studied and implemented, and the strategies of the Party's full and rigorous self-governance should be resolutely carried out.

It also called for efforts to improve the systems for exercising full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, improve Party conduct, enforce Party discipline, and fight corruption.

According to the communique, the achievements of the education campaign on the study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era should be strengthened and expanded. The document called for transforming the learning outcomes into actual results in improving conduct, enforcing discipline and combating corruption.

Highlighting the importance of upholding Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and the Party Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership, the communique called for enhancing political oversight and prompt actions to remove all potential political dangers.

The communique also underlined the need to eliminate the breeding ground of corruption. Efforts should be made to constantly intensify the fight against corruption and continue to focus on the key issues, areas and targets, as well as new and disguised forms of corruption, with priority given to punishing corruption involving the collusion between officials and businesspeople, it said.

It also called for resolutely fighting corruption that directly affects people's lives, tackling cross-border corruption, and advancing national anti-corruption legislation.

The communique underscored the importance of deepening the implementation of the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct on a regular basis and in a long-term manner.

It stressed the need to firmly rectify pointless formalities and bureaucratism, which are major concerns to cadres and the public, calling for efforts to tackle problems that affect high-quality development or increase the burdens on officials working at the primary level, as well as efforts to redress distorted views of power and incorrect understanding of what it means to perform well.

Highlighting the need for strict steps to tighten Party discipline, the communique called for Party discipline education and hard work to resolve issues such as paying inadequate attention to, failing to comprehend or failing to master Party rules and discipline.

The communique stressed the importance of maintaining correct political orientation and deepening inspection, calling for solid progress in conducting inspections in an all-encompassing manner.

Reform and institutional construction of the disciplinary inspection and supervision system should be more standardized, regulated and in line with the rule of law, according to the communique.

The communique stressed the need to improve the primary-level supervision system and strengthen oversight over leadership teams and their heads.

It called for further integration of digital technology into work related to disciplinary inspection and supervision, and the establishment of an integrated work platform.

The communique underscored the significance of carrying forward the spirit of thorough self-reform to strengthen disciplinary inspection and supervision organs, while also urging efforts to remove bad apples from such organs and stressing the need for these organs not to be blind to their own problems.

The plenary session called for rallying more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and devoting unrelenting efforts to advance the high-quality development of disciplinary inspection and supervision work on the new journey to provide a strong guarantee for building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.