Li Neng: An Important Experience of the Party's Self-Revolution in the New Era
On June 30, 2025, while presiding over the twenty-first collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Self-revolution is the second answer for our Party to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall [1]; advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party by starting with conduct is an important experience of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era." This important discourse profoundly reveals the internal links between conduct building, comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, and self-revolution, further deepening our Party's regular understanding of self-revolution. We must profoundly recognize the generative logic, scientific connotation, and practical path of this important experience, carry forward the spirit of self-revolution, and continuously drive the Party's conduct building to greater depths.
I. Where did this important experience come from?
The Party’s conduct concerns the Party's image, the support of the people, and the very survival of the Party. Our Party has always attached great importance to conduct building, cultivating and forming fine traditions such as integrating theory with practice, maintaining close ties with the masses, criticism and self-criticism, as well as arduous struggle and seeking truth from facts, which have enabled our Party to win the trust and support of the masses. Since the start of the New Era, our Party has persisted in advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party by starting with conduct, gradually summarizing and refining this important experience of the Party’s self-revolution.
This experience was summarized and refined from the practical innovation of deeply implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations and advancing the Party's conduct building. Since the New Era began, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core broke ground by formulating and implementing the Eight-Point Regulations. With a "nail-driving spirit" [2], they moved forward steadily and deeply, stopping many unhealthy tendencies that were previously considered unstoppable, eliminating chronic diseases that had been difficult to cure for years, and solving many prominent problems that the masses strongly complained about. The conduct of the Party and the government has taken on a completely new look, promoting an overall improvement in the level of Party management and governance, and gathering powerful positive energy for the development of the cause of the Party and the state. Once the "chess piece" of the Eight-Point Regulations was played, the entire board of conduct building came alive. Practice has proven that by breaking ground with the "moving the wooden pole to establish trust" [3] act of the Eight-Point Regulations and persevering in the Party's conduct building, we can certainly win this tough and protracted battle of conduct building, step by step achieving a state of "vanishing corruption and clear waters" [4].
This experience was summarized and refined from the institutional innovation of deepening the reform of the Party building system and improving the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. The Communist Party of China is the largest Marxist governing party in the world, facing the unique challenges of a large party—specifically, the "six questions on how to always" [5]—in the process of advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party by starting with conduct. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must deepen reform and transform functions, plug the loopholes that breed unhealthy tendencies through institutional mechanisms, and solidify the achievements of conduct building through reform methods." Since the New Era began, our Party has improved the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party across organizational, educational, supervisory, institutional, and responsibility frameworks. We have persisted in implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, improved long-term mechanisms for preventing and treating formalism and bureaucratism, and ensured that Party building advances and institutional reforms deepen wherever the cause of the Party and the state develops. This has effectively reversed the previous situation of "lax, soft, and loose" [6] Party governance. Practice has proven that as long as we consolidate and expand the achievements of conduct building in the New Era, persist in governing the Party with a spirit of reform and strict standards, constantly improve normalized and long-term mechanisms for conduct building, and strengthen supervision over institutional implementation, we can promote the grounding and realization of various systems for conduct building and truly transform institutional advantages into governance efficacy.
This experience was summarized and refined from the theoretical innovation of continuously deepening the regular understanding of the Party's self-revolution and maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Looking around the world, no other political party can treat its own construction as seriously and earnestly as the Communist Party of China, nor can any other party advance self-revolution with such high consciousness, scientific attitude, and systematic approach. This is a significant advantage of our Party and the winning way to lead the era." Since the New Era began, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed conduct building in a prominent position. Focused on maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity, it profoundly summarized the fresh experience of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and proposed a series of original and landmark new ideas, viewpoints, and judgments, such as "self-revolution is the second answer for our Party to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall," "leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution," and "comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is a self-revolution." This formed General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution, marking a new height in our Party's understanding of the laws of Marxist party building and the laws of Communist governance, demonstrating our Party’s distinct character of continuously promoting theoretical innovation based on practice. Practice has proven that as long as we use a thorough spirit of self-revolution to timely eliminate various factors that affect the Party's advanced nature and weaken its purity, we will surely be able to push the Party's conduct building forward and build our Party into a more powerful Marxist governing party.
II. How to profoundly understand this important experience
Since the New Era began, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has used the Eight-Point Regulations to break ground, advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party by starting with conduct, thereby opening up a new realm of the Party's self-revolution. In his important speech while presiding over the twenty-first collective study of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized the main experience of advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party through conduct building as the "Five Persists," profoundly revealing the rich connotation of this experience. This is both a theoretical generalization and a practical requirement; it has polished the "Golden Business Card" [7] of Party governance in the New Era and enriched the effective paths of the Party's self-revolution.
"Persist in establishing iron rules and strong constraints." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To grasp conduct building, concentrated education and rectification are necessary, but fundamentally we must rely on systems." Since the New Era began, the Central Committee has continuously improved the regulations and systems of the Party's conduct building. Specific provisions on conduct have been included in the formulation and revision of foundational regulations such as the CPC Regulations on Integrity and Self-Discipline, CPC Regulations on Internal Supervision, CPC Regulations on Accountability, and CPC Regulations on Disciplinary Action. They are also found in normative Party documents such as the Regulations on Practicing Thrift and Opposing Waste in Party and Government Organs, the Regulations on the Management of Domestic Official Hospitality for Party and Government Organs, the Administrative Measures for Office space of Party and Government Organs, and the Certain Provisions on Rectifying Formalism to Reduce Burdens at the Primary Level. These ensure that the Party's conduct building has rules to follow, procedures to abide by, and evidence to check.
"Persist in leading from the top, starting with the Political Bureau." In December 2012, when the Political Bureau of the Central Committee deliberated on the Eight-Point Regulations, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "If we are a bit more uncomfortable and a bit less at ease, the comfort and satisfaction of the common people will be a bit higher, and their feelings toward us will be a bit better." Fine conduct is the concentrated expression of our Party’s personal power. By persisting in leading from the top, those below will follow the example of those above, creating a powerful demonstration effect. Since the New Era began, General Secretary Xi Jinping has led by example, improving work style and maintaining close ties with the masses in the practice of national governance, setting a brilliant example for the whole Party with practical actions. The Political Bureau took the lead in improving conduct and strictly implementing the Eight-Point Regulations. Leading cadres at all levels have been strict with themselves, strictly responsible, and strict in managing their jurisdictions, creating a powerful momentum where the whole Party works together. This has cleared serious hidden dangers within the Party and promoted the continuous purification of the political ecosystem.
"Persist in a problem-oriented approach, focusing on rectifying the 'Four Winds' through concentrated education and a series of special rectifications." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must unswervingly correct the 'Four Winds,' keep a close eye on new forms and trends of the 'Four Winds,' investigate and punish them severely without yielding an inch, see regularity in persistence, demand long-term results from institutional building, and promote the improvement of social atmosphere." Since the New Era began, the CPC Central Committee has persisted in a problem-oriented approach, focusing on the target and grasping the key points to continuously deepen the rectification of the "Four Winds." Starting from key issues, key fields, and key targets, it has carried out concentrated education and special rectifications for problems that occur commonly and repeatedly. By using local breakthroughs to leverage overall change, the Party's image and prestige have been further established, and the hearts of the Party and the people have further converged. Stopping the "Four Winds" is an important way to consolidate the support of the Party and the people. This requires resolutely rectifying corruption and unhealthy tendencies around the masses, adhering to the principle of resolutely preventing and correcting whatever the masses oppose and hate, so that the people can feel tangible results and become witnesses and beneficiaries of conduct building.
"Persist in grasping the routine, the details, and the long term; holding and advancing one node at a time." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Conduct building is always on the road and there is never a stop sign. We must not touch the water like a dragonfly [8], nor should we start like a tiger but end like a tail [9], nor can it be just a passing wind. Otherwise, not only will it be impossible to fundamentally solve the problem, but it will also lead to conduct problems rebounding and intensifying, eventually losing the trust of the people." Since the New Era began, our Party has always stood firmly on the people's side, tightly grasping conduct issues. With a spirit of "taking things seriously" and "tenacity," we have corrected one fault at a time and achieved breakthroughs one problem at a time, connecting conduct building with deepening reform, improving systems, and promoting governance to advance the institutionalization, normalization, and long-term efficacy of conduct building. This requires integrating conduct building into daily work and specific details, combining punishment and deterrence with the establishment of rules and systems, eradicating the soil and conditions for bad conduct, building the Party well and strong, and following the "road to the exam" [10] of the New Era with a good mental state and high morale.
"Persist in grasping Party spirit, conduct, and discipline together, and integrating the rectification of conduct, discipline, and anti-corruption." Strong Party spirit, fine conduct, and strict discipline are distinct features of the Communist Party of China. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Party spirit, conduct, and discipline are an organic whole; Party spirit is the root, conduct is the expression, and discipline is the guarantee." Since the New Era began, our Party has persisted in grasping these three together, advancing the rectification of conduct, discipline, and anti-corruption in an integrated manner. We have deeply promoted the simultaneous investigation and treatment of conduct and corruption issues, leading to the formation of a healthy social ecosystem through a clean political ecosystem. The broad masses of Party members, cadres, and people have become more firm in their faith and confidence in believing in, relying on, and following the Party. This requires systematic thinking, applying force and comprehensive measures across the tempering of Party spirit, the correction of tendencies, and the enforcement of discipline. By clarifying directions, establishing rules, and strengthening immunity, the Party is forged into a piece of "hard steel" that is invincible and can always be the mainstay of the people in the face of various risks and tests at home and abroad.
III. How to persist in and apply this important experience
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Our Party shoulders the very heavy task of Chinese-path modernization and faces an exceptionally complex governance environment. The string of self-revolution must be tightened further." On the road ahead, we must persist in and apply the important experience of advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party by starting with conduct since the New Era, promote the normalization and long-term efficacy of conduct building, improve the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, and further implement the requirements of the Party's self-revolution in the New Era.
We must consolidate the foundation and enhance Party spirit. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Enhancing Party spirit focuses on sharpening ideal and faith, tempering loyalty to the Party, deepening feelings for the people, purifying moral quality, and maintaining integrity." To solve conduct problems, we must fundamentally solve Party spirit problems. We should always build a solid foundation of Party spirit through thorough theoretical study. We must promote the normalization and institutionalization of education, improve the theoretical study systems of Party committees (Party leadership groups) and primary-level Party organizations, and guide Party members and cadres to continuously and deeply study General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on strengthening conduct building and his important thoughts on Party building and self-revolution. By reading original works and grasping original principles, we can improve ideological awareness and maintain the clarity and determination that the Party’s self-revolution is "always on the road" through profound theoretical consciousness. We should always temper Party spirit through serious internal political life. We must focus on enhancing the political, contemporary, principled, and combative nature of internal political life, and make good use of the weapons of criticism and self-criticism. We should guide Party members and cadres to be brave in self-reflection, consciously accept Party organization education and supervision, and strictly check for gaps against the requirements of conduct, check for root causes against the requirements of Party spirit, and clarify measures against the requirements of Party discipline. We must wash away impurities and eliminate "viruses" through normalized inspection and rectification. We should always practice the Party's purpose by following the mass line in the New Era. We must deeply understand that the core of conduct issues is the relationship between the Party and the people. We must regard serving and benefiting the people as the most important political achievement, investigate and treat "micro-corruption" in the field of people's livelihoods, remove "stumbling blocks" that hinder the implementation of policies beneficial to the people, and sincerely solve problems for the masses. With fine conduct, we can unite the broad masses of the people closely around the Party.
We must further regulate the exercise of power.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that "the fight against corruption must standardize the operation of power." We must establish and practice a correct outlook on power. We must keep firmly in mind that power belongs to the "public" (gong) and not to the "private" (si), always maintaining a sense of awe toward the people, the organization, and the laws and disciplines of the Party. We must educate and guide the vast number of Party members and cadres to concentrate their energy on seeking development, promoting people's livelihoods, and ensuring implementation. We must resolutely struggle against the ideology and phenomena of privilege, ensuring that power is exercised in accordance with regulations, in accordance with the law, impartially, and with integrity, so as to ensure that the power bestowed by the people is always used to seek happiness for the people. We must improve institutional mechanisms that unify the authorization, exercise, and restraint of power, ensuring they are clear, transparent, and traceable. We must keep a close watch on every link of power operation, including authorization, exercise, and restraint, reasonably determining the attribution of power, clarifying power boundaries, refining power lists, and strengthening the control of power processes. Emphasis should be placed on identifying loopholes in the operation of power, mending institutional shortcomings, and perfecting systems for power allocation and operational constraints. We should refine the systems and mechanisms for managing power and governing officials, improve preventive mechanisms for the timely discovery of problems and corrective mechanisms for the accurate rectification of deviations, and place the operation of power under the supervision of Party organizations and the masses, so that those who exercise power truly "do not dare, are not able, and do not wish" to cross the line. We must refine the system of internal Party regulations and institutions centered on democratic centralism. This involves improving the system of collective decision-making for "Major Issues, Major Appointments, Major Projects, and Large-Scale Use of Funds" [12], ensuring that we both fully promote intra-Party democracy and are adept at conducting correct centralization. We must act strictly according to procedures and regulations, ensuring that leading cadres do not abuse their power when in high positions and do not seek personal gain when holding great authority.
We must make good use of the sharp weapon of strict supervision, discipline, and enforcement. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "the Party must manage itself and govern itself strictly; both 'management' and 'governance' encompass supervision." We must accurately utilize the sharp weapon of strict supervision and discipline to achieve the goals of maintaining a heavy deterrent, maintaining high pressure, and ensuring a long-lasting intimidation. We must improve the Party and state supervision systems and enhance the governance efficacy of conduct building. This involves strengthening the primary responsibility and supervisory responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, deepening the reform of grassroots supervision systems and mechanisms, and promoting the organic integration, mutual coordination, and efficient linkage of various forms of supervision, including intra-Party, public, and media supervision. We should fully utilize information technology and big data to expand supervisory means and extend supervisory reach, forming a normalized and long-term supervisory synergy. We must improve the system and mechanism for disciplinary inspections (xunshi) and local inspections (xuncha) to enhance the effectiveness of supervision and discipline enforcement. We must persist in "nipping problems in the bud" [13], keeping a close watch on important nodes such as New Year’s Day, the Spring Festival, May Day, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day. Through methods such as unannounced visits, joint inspections, and cross-inspections, we can discover problems in a timely manner. By employing effective measures such as public exposure, warning education, and analysis of typical cases, we ensure that supervision is always present and discipline is always strict. We must persist in the simultaneous investigation and treatment of work style issues and corruption, continuously rectifying stubborn ailments in conduct. We must deeply grasp the characteristic that "corruption originates from bad style, and style and corruption are integrated" (feng-fu yiti), strengthening composite research and judgment on style and corruption issues. We must clear the bottlenecks and blockages that hinder simultaneous investigation and treatment, focusing on investigating and punishing defiant violations where individuals do not restrain themselves or stop. Through "simultaneous investigation," we will severely punish issues where style and corruption are intertwined; through "simultaneous treatment," we will eradicate the common roots of style and corruption, encouraging cadres to embark on careers and ventures under the prerequisite of observing regulations, discipline, and integrity.
We must fulfill the responsibility for managing and governing the Party. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that "without clarifying responsibility, implementing responsibility, and pursuing accountability, strict governance of the Party cannot be achieved." We must firmly grasp the "ox's nose" [14] of the responsibility system and remember that strengthening conduct building is the shared responsibility of the entire Party. We must tighten the chain of responsibility and improve the system for integrated and synergistic implementation. We must fully implement the primary responsibility of Party committees (Party leadership groups), the "first responsible person" responsibility of Party secretaries, the "dual responsibilities for one post" [15] of leadership team members, and the specialized supervisory responsibility of commissions for discipline inspection (discipline inspection groups). This will build a responsibility pattern where everyone fulfills their respective duties with unified coordination, ensuring the political responsibility for managing and governing the Party is carried and implemented. We must deepen precise accountability, ensuring that failure to fulfill responsibilities is investigated and accountability is strict. Focusing on key points of responsibility implementation, using laws and disciplines as the yardstick and facts as the basis, we must strike at the first sign of and precisely hold accountable such issues as the distortion of the Party’s line, principles, and policies, laxity in governing the Party, the occurrence of serious "Four Winds" and corruption, and ineffective rectification of inspection findings. We will resolutely create a strict atmosphere and establish a righteous spirit, using excellent conduct to unite hearts and promote ventures, thereby providing a strong guarantee for comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through the Chinese path to modernization!
[The author is the Executive Vice President of the Party School (Academy of Governance) of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPC] Source: Red Flag Manuscript (Hongqi Wengao) Issue 14, 2025 Online Editor: Ma Jingren