How China keeps power in check: the Party's self-governance

The world's largest ruling political party needs to keep its own house in order so it can keep serving the people.

The scale of the task is enormous. The Communist Party of China (CPC) had some 101.29 million members and more than 5.43 million primary-level Party organizations at the end of 2025, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. 

The bigger the Party gets, the greater the need for discipline, oversight and self-governance.

The question is back in the spotlight at the start of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). It is also a main agenda item at the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, to be held in Beijing from October 26 to 29.

The Party has made progress on self-governance since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. But with each passing year, it faces new challenges as conditions at home and abroad change, and as the Party itself changes, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in late July.

A long-term strategy for self-improvement

How should full and rigorous Party self-governance be understood? Why does it matter? And what role does it play in meeting China's development goals over the next five years?

Wang Yiwei, vice president of the Academy of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at Renmin University of China, says that for a political party seeking to govern over the long term, the greatest challenge is not external opponents, but whether it can keep holding itself to its own standards.

As the conditions in which power is exercised changes, new risks emerge, Wang says. Corruption and bureaucratism are another matter. They threaten every administrative organisation and are not one-off problems with one-off solutions. 

The work of self-governance never stops. Institutional safeguards like disciplinary inspections and investigations, regular education and measures that hold everyone accountable throughout their careers create a zero-tolerance environment for rot from within, says Wang. 

Wang says all political parties must maintain public trust. He says the CPC focuses on proactive self-reform. It recognizes the importance of external oversight, but the Party seeks to identify and address its own shortcomings rather than wait for a crisis.

This approach strengthens governance in several ways: enforcing discipline to tackle corruption and keep the playing field level; improving accountability while encouraging officials to take initiative and innovate; strengthening inspections and oversight to ensure national strategies are carried out consistently; and tackling formalism and bureaucratism to cut red tape.

In 2025, the Party took disciplinary action against 983,000 people for various violations, up from 889,000 in 2024, according to data released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Commission of Supervision.

From Party discipline to people's daily life

Overseas observers often see Party self-governance as an internal matter, focused on senior officials, Wang says. In practice, however, much of it happens at the grassroots level, where it shows up in people's daily life.

Even well-designed policies may fail if local officials neglect their duties, abuse their authority or seek personal gain, Wang says. By curbing misconduct, cutting red tape and watching the public purse, Party self-governance means policies reach the people they're meant to serve.

Examples can be found in the management of rural development funds and the delivery of social assistance. In 2025, authorities rectified more than 2,200 cases of false reporting and fraudulent claims involving rural revitalization funds. They also addressed gaps in social assistance, bringing 14,000 people who had been left out into the minimum-living allowance program, according to the CCDI of the CPC and the National Commission of Supervision.

Discipline and oversight translate into better public services and better use of public money.

Ultimately, Wang says, Party self-governance is about constraining the exercise of public power and making sure it serves the public interest.

Supporting China's long-term development goals

Party self-governance reaches the heart of China's development as the 15th Five-Year Plan sets out national goals on industrial upgrading, green transformation, urban-rural balance and further opening up. 

Hitting those targets will depend on how well officials at all levels turn policy into action, Wang says. 

Without a workforce that is accountable, disciplined and committed to the public interest, even the best plans risk ending up dead words on paper, Wang adds.

He says Party self-governance aims to build a reliable and responsible cadre of officials, narrow the gap between policy design and implementation, and strengthen the execution of national strategies. 

That, he says, is the institutional bedrock for China's long-term development goals.