Editor's note: Rocco Lacorte is an associate professor at the School of Marxism, Nankai University, China. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

How does a long-governing Marxist party remain progressive, relevant and trusted? The fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) posited this question of epochal weight at the core of its agenda; and the answer is contained clearly in the communique on October 29, 2026: through full and rigorous Party self-governance.

Behind it lies a deeper philosophy: A ruling party stays ahead of history not by resting on its past achievements, but by constant efforts to renew its own nature, discipline and connection with the people.

Marxism, from its origins, was never a catalog of fixed formulas. Marx and Engels insisted that theory needs to be adapted to different historical conditions. Lenin realized this spirit, insisting on building cadres able to "translate" between theory and practice – and, at the plenum, in line with this view, it was clarified that the Party should "improve the training and selection of outstanding young officials."

Developing the previous achievements of Marxism, the CPC draws its defining character by placing the people at the center. The Party's essence is that it is bound to the people, and its legitimacy is renewed only by serving them and listening to their critical scrutiny and advice. For Marxism, the “essence” of the human being is historical, coinciding with given social relations in space and time. Chinese culture likewise places the person within the world of their country. Hence, both Marxism and Chinese culture oppose the view of people as isolated individuals. These shared deep cultural affinities make possible not the mere juxtaposition of the two cultural traditions but their reciprocal "translation" or fusion.

The "two integrations" express this precisely: integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities, and with China's fine traditional culture. The first integration rejects mechanical repetition and copying, and requires the Party to start from concrete specific conditions, testing theory through practice and revising understanding when reality changes; otherwise ideas would not be able to meet the specific needs of the people and change realities effectively.

The second integration is a distinctive Chinese development: Marxist truth takes deeper root when it is translated by combining it with values, historical wisdom and shared moral understandings the Chinese people already recognize – e.g., "the people as the foundation of the state," "public good for all" and "constant renewal." Without such "integration," Marxism would harden into fixed formulas and lose its guiding power; whilst with it, the Party maintains its capacity to lead, stays both "scientific" and "popular," guided by communism while speaking to the civilizational identity of the nation it governs.

This is the theoretical core of the Party's leadership: Marxism with Chinese characteristics is not a dilution of the method but its living actualization and empowerment. It is, thus, the broader framework of the "integration" that allows the Party to exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance, answer the questions of the people, the times and the world – and to keep its people-centered nature alive, since the Party's legitimacy is renewed only by serving a specific people with specific needs. The session's focus on self-governance was not a routine administrative matter, but the very condition of the Party's relevance.

At the fifth plenary session this logic was made explicit. Concerning the Party's century-long journey, the people's oversight over government and the Party's self-reform emerged as the answers to the historical cycle of rise and fall that has undone so many ruling forces. Both are presented as distinctive discoveries of the CPC in the history of Marxist parties.

In the new era, the Party has confronted grave internal problems with "the most stringent measures" and "continuous efforts": Lax and weak self-governance has been addressed at the root, long-unchecked unhealthy tendencies curbed, deep-seated problems remedied and serious dangers within the Party, the state and the military removed. Thus, the Party has grown stronger through revolutionary tempering.

This is the meaning of the "four selfs" – self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-improvement – carried out through criticism and self-criticism, organizational rectification, internal supervision and adaptive institutional reform. By correcting its own flaws before external pressure forces it to do so, the Party has seized the historical initiative.

Moreover, the session set out systematic plans for persevering with full and rigorous self-governance, each reinforcing the others. "Strengthening the Party" is described as a fundamental task: Ideals and convictions must be fortified, loyalty to the Party and affection for the people deepened, and the true political character of Communists preserved. Political construction is the overarching principle, with centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee safeguarding unity against fragmentation.

Democratic centralism – the Party's fundamental organizational principle – is to be practiced strictly, drawing on both internal democracy and correct centralism so that decisions are both collective and binding. High-quality officials are to be cultivated under stringent standards, and Party organizations at every level, from central organs to grassroots units, strengthened so that the Party's line is implemented in a coordinated and effective way. 

Equally central is the fight against corruption and the institutional checking of power. The session reiterated that the Party tolerates no corruption because it has no special interests beyond those of the working class and the overwhelming majority of the people. Power is to be placed inside an institutional cage; anti-corruption must continue with zero tolerance, addressing both old and new, and covert forms of corruption, and rectifying formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

These institutionalized mechanisms – supervision, discipline enforcement and anti-corruption – remove the factors that erode the Party's integrity, root out undesirable practices, address long-term potential risks and prevent the degeneration that long-term rule can bring. This is not about purging elite rivals, as some foreign commentators have observed, but about building a disciplined system that can uphold the Party’s political priorities across leadership cycles. The session's decisions to expel a number of officials for grave violations of discipline and law were not incidental; they are the demonstration that full and rigorous Party self-governance is not a slogan but a working procedure.

Underlying all this is the Party's preparedness for an objectively turbulent world. Profound changes in global, national and Party conditions, the communique stresses, have made the tasks of safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests, of promoting reform and development, and of maintaining social harmony and stability more urgent and challenging. The "four tests" and "four dangers" remain protracted, complicated and serious. The condition for weathering external storms without surrendering the Party's nature or original aspiration is to pursue political unity and self-discipline so that society's resources and efforts remain consistently directed toward shared goals.

Discipline and full and rigorous Party self-governance are not just rituals; they are at the core of Party building, organization and readiness for a changing world; they are the ground on which national strength can become the foundation of a broader, internationalist horizon for the edification of a world community with a shared future.

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