Editor's note: Bao Shujun, a researcher at the International Cooperation Center of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened its fifth plenary session in Beijing from October 26 to 29, 2026, where it deliberated and adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Certain Major Issues concerning Persevering with Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance. Issued at a pivotal moment, as the 14th Five-Year Plan draws to a successful close and the 15th Five-Year Plan gets off to a promising start, this important document not only provides a systematic account of the century-old Party's experience in self-reform, but also reveals the deeper economic rationale underpinning high-quality development. Full and rigorous Party self-governance is a vital source of momentum, rooted in integrity, for China's sustained and sound economic development. By curbing opportunities for rent-seeking through institutional checks on power, stabilizing market expectations through the elimination of the risks of corruption, ensuring policy continuity through enhanced institutional enforcement, and improving the business environment through clean and upright political governance, it provides a solid institutional foundation for Chinese modernization.

At its core, a market economy is one in which the market plays the decisive role in resource allocation. Investors value certainty above everything else and require assurance that rules will be applied without arbitrary intervention. The plenary session proposed that the integrated mechanism of ensuring officials dare not, cannot, and do not want to engage in corruption serves as a fundamental strategy for full and rigorous Party self-governance and the fight against corruption. It calls for maintaining strong pressure in cracking down on corruption and strengthening constraints and oversight over the exercise of power. From an economic perspective, subjecting the exercise of power to institutional constraints and ensuring that it is exercised transparently helps curtail opportunities for rent-seeking as much as possible. Market participants no longer have to bear the cost of cultivating personal connections. Thus, they can focus on innovation and business operations. Once the pests encroaching on the economic system are swept away, solid institutional credibility is forged, enabling the market to make stable assessments and sustain long-term confidence in the political and policy environment.

Full and rigorous Party self-governance is essential to ensuring policy continuity. The plenary session laid down key principles such as remaining committed to the Party's core mission, adhering to a problem-oriented approach, and enforcing rule-based Party governance. Furthermore, it stressed the need to "improve a responsibility system in which each entity assumes its respective duties and all work in coordination". By strengthening accountability for Party management and governance and improving the system of intra-Party rules and regulations, full and rigorous Party self-governance reinforces institutional enforcement and ensures that the CPC Central Committee's decisions and arrangements concerning economic work are fully and faithfully implemented. This helps prevent policies from being rendered ineffective in practice or resource benefits from being diverted for private gain at intermediate links. The resulting policy stability and predictability directly shape entrepreneurs' investment horizons and confidence, ensuring that macroeconomic policy dividends reach all market participants alike. In this manner, full and rigorous Party self-governance helps safeguard China's continued economic momentum toward innovation, higher quality, and stronger performance throughout the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Establishing and acting on a sound understanding of what constitutes good performance, while rectifying the tendency to undertake vanity projects and image-building stunts, is crucial to pursuing high-quality development. When the criteria for evaluating officials shift from a focus on visible achievements to recognizing both tangible results and less visible contributions, and from chasing short-term growth figures to pursuing lasting improvements in people's well-being, more resources are directed toward areas that enhance people's livelihoods, drive innovation, and advance the green transition, areas that deliver benefits both now and well into the future. Such a shift is vital to sustaining the momentum behind high-quality development.

The plenary session noted that the Party has found two answers to the question of how to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall: the people's oversight over government and the Party's self-reform. These are the unique discoveries of the Communist Party of China, and will forever stand out in the history of Marxist parties. For countries across the Global South, achieving sustained economic growth while curbing corruption and strengthening the efficacy of economic governance through clean governance remains a common challenge. China's experience of advancing the modernization of national governance through the Party's self-reform, while ensuring that Party leadership permeates every aspect and every stage of economic and social development, combines strong political mobilization with firm institutional checks on the exercise of power. In this way, it strives to unleash market vitality while upholding fairness, maintain foundational principles while embracing innovation, and lead by example from the top. In doing so, China offers a distinctive Chinese approach that countries across the Global South can draw upon for their sustainable development.

Clean governance fosters integrity, and integrity fuels prosperity. Full and rigorous Party self-governance does not detract from economic development; rather, it drives development by fostering momentum rooted in integrity. Clean and upright governance is not a price to be paid for economic growth, but one of its essential conditions.