The modern world is shaped by geopolitical instability, rising protectionism, pressure on the global economy, and intensifying technological competition. Within China, industrial modernization, demographic shifts, and the transition to new growth drivers create heightened demands on national governance. To maintain stable progress, China requires strategic resolve and the ability to adapt its institutions alongside a functioning market and effective policy implementation.
The current fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) focuses on ensuring the complete and strict self-governance of the Party. The significance of this process extends beyond the development of the Party itself and concerns the entire development of China.
As emphasized by President Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, 'China's success depends on the Party.' Understanding China begins with this fundamental political reality—the leadership of the CPC. As the ruling party of a vast country, it is responsible for guiding state structures, defining the development trajectory, organizing officials, coordinating inter-sectoral actions, and directing social development.
The effectiveness of its leadership, the strength of its organizations, and the willingness of officials to take responsibility determine political unity and social cohesion, the functioning of national institutions, as well as economic and social development. This institutional structure implies the principle: to govern the country well, one must first govern the Party well.
Through complete and strict self-governance and a boldness in pursuing self-reform, the CPC strengthens itself. Discipline, accountability, and oversight that allows for the identification and correction of problems, along with institutional improvements, transform the Party's political and organizational strengths into governing capacity.
This process links the Party's leadership system with the country's governance system, connecting Party management with national administration and identifying issues for deeper reform. It provides crucial support for institutional resilience, managerial potential, and society's ability to advance development.
The Party's inspection system illustrates this connection. After each round of central inspections, groups of inspectors analyze identified problems, propose measures to address both urgent issues and root causes, and submit thematic reports to the CPC Central Committee. These reports serve as an important basis for national leaders to understand systemic problems in state administration and develop institutional reforms to eliminate them.
The value of institutional reform becomes evident in development itself. A study conducted by the disciplinary group for inspection and supervision under the Ministry of Science and Technology helped remove obstacles preventing private enterprises from applying for National Natural Science Foundation projects. The revised registration rules now allow relevant private enterprises to claim the status of host institutions for these projects. Oversight identified a policy gap, and the corrective action contributed to improving the rules. More enterprises gained opportunities to participate, bringing national research resources closer to enterprise innovation needs and stimulating new drivers of economic growth.
Strict Party self-governance has also enhanced the sense of responsibility among officials and helped to more reliably assess their performance. Less red tape and clearer duties give local officials more time to serve businesses and respond to residents' needs, while simplifying control and evaluation of their work. Combating meaningless formalities and bureaucracy, supported by officials who take responsibility for reforms, helps turn commitment and accountability into practical problem-solving actions.
Implementing major initiatives tests the country's ability to organize work across administrative boundaries. In one instance, disagreements arose over design conflicting with approval procedures and unclear responsibilities when building a bridge connecting two provincial-level administrative regions. Subsequently, disciplinary inspection bodies from both sides conducted joint supervision, prompting transport authorities to assume shared responsibility and coordinating parallel approval processes. The oversight clarified responsibilities, which in turn improved coordination and allowed the regional development strategy to move forward.
Effective policy implementation often requires unified authority and common rules. China is a unitary state. Local protectionism, violations of investment promotion rules, and policies skewed toward private interests can undermine the unity and fairness of the national market. Grassroots oversight, combined with accountability, helps ensure the implementation of central decisions and curbs the abuse of local power.
In building a unified national market, oversight has helped correct the creation of market barriers and the granting of undue preferences to certain enterprises. This supports local initiative while maintaining overarching national rules, allowing enterprises to compete fairly across administrative boundaries. Central authority helps sustain the implementation of long-term strategies across different regions, departments, and policy cycles.
The consequences of strict Party self-governance are also visible in the improvement of the business environment and government-business relations. An oversight initiative in Liaoning Province in Northeast China helped secure over 3 billion yuan (US$448 million) in contract payments owed by state institutions, state-owned enterprises, and public institutions, and the fulfillment of over 700 unresolved government obligations, according to data published in June 2023.
Every payment made and obligation fulfilled has eased immediate pressure on businesses and reduced the dependence of commercial activities on personal connections. Government trust encourages broader respect for commitments, creating better conditions for rule-based business and growth through self-effort. This fosters a favorable environment for long-term investment and sustainable innovation.
Strict Party self-governance and public participation in oversight mutually reinforce each other, providing a broad social foundation for better governance. Between the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017 and the 20th National Congress in 2022, Party inspection organs at various levels received over 4 million public reports on issues, while central inspection teams conducted 58,000 interviews with officials and members of the public. These channels allowed them to widely hear people's concerns.
Several provinces have studied mechanisms where residents identify problems, responsible departments take corrective action, disciplinary inspection and supervision bodies monitor compliance, and the public evaluates the results.
Complete and strict Party self-governance is both a strategic policy of the CPC and a task under its leadership that matters to the entire nation. As China faces external challenges and profound changes in its development, it links oversight, reform, and implementation, ensuring that the political duties of the ruling party are put into practice and that the people-oriented approach permeates national governance. This practice is of immense importance for political reform and provides continuous momentum for China's economic transformation and higher-quality development.