The Communist Party of China (CPC) will soon celebrate its centenary. Over the past 100 years, the Party has managed to maintain its vigor through continuous self-reform, a hallmark of the CPC and one of its greatest strengths.
The CPC has the advanced nature and purity of a Marxist political party. It has fostered an "iron army" with conviction, competence and discipline since its founding in 1921.
But maintaining this state is not easy, considering that the CPC boasts over 91 million members and governs the world's second-largest economy with about a fifth of the world's population.
The Party must continue to purify itself. Through its history, the Party has inspired its members with noble ideals, educated them with scientific theories and regulated their behavior with strict discipline.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has raised self-reform to a new level through efforts to firm up CPC members' ideals and convictions, strengthen intra-Party rules and regulations, and exercise full and rigorous governance over the Party.
One of the focal points is ideological education, as the decline of a political party often begins with the loss or absence of ideals and beliefs.
The CPC has a history of using campaigns to ensure Party members hold firm beliefs and stay committed to serving the people wholeheartedly.
As the latest move, a campaign on Party history learning and education was launched in February, the fifth centralized education campaign carried out within the Party over the past nine years.
"These campaigns have guided Party members in reinforcing their beliefs, inner strength and thoughts, which bring the Party and its officials closer to the people," said Tian Peiyan, deputy head of the CPC Central Committee Policy Research Office.
The system of intra-Party regulations has been improved with over 190 central intra-Party regulations formulated or revised since 2012, covering a wide range of issues including Party disciplinary actions and accountability.
The Party has waged a war on all forms of corruption. Corrupt officials were investigated and punished on a scale unseen in decades. Not only the high-ranking "tigers," but also low-level "flies" were targeted.
By the end of 2019, a total of 414 officials registered with and supervised by the CPC Central Committee had been investigated.
The Party fights graft and undesirable work practices at the same time. A signature measure that unleashed sweeping change in Party conduct is what people come to know as the "eight-point rules."
Issued after the 18th CPC National Congress, the eight-point rules aim to stem out misdeeds such as holding extravagant banquets, misusing public vehicles and visiting private clubs. Since then, such activities have substantially diminished.
Besides internal efforts to ensure strict Party governance, external supervision is encouraged. For example, the Party has used the internet as a convenient, efficient and interactive platform to collect public opinions.
According to official figures, since its launch in April 2019, the State Council's "Internet Plus Inspection" platform has received over 100 million visits and tens of millions of comments, and has helped solve over 100,000 problems, responding to public concerns and correcting errors in work in a timely manner.
"With the CPC's thorough self-reform, deep-seated problems and serious potential dangers in the Party and the country can be addressed and eliminated," said Tian, adding that a stronger and more vibrant CPC has been forged through such endeavors.
