Zhu Lingjun and Lyu Pin: Research on Establishing and Improving Systems and Mechanisms to Ensure the Comprehensive Implementation of the CPC Constitution | Marxism Research Network

The Constitution of the Communist Party of China (hereafter "the Party Constitution") is the fundamental law of the CPC, the basic grounds for the development of the system of intra-Party regulations, and the general charter and basic code of conduct that all CPC members must follow. Throughout more than a century of struggle, the CPC has promptly incorporated the significant achievements of the Party’s practical, theoretical, and institutional innovations into the Party Constitution, enabling it to play a vital guiding role in advancing the Party’s cause and strengthening Party building. To uphold the authority of the Party Constitution and ensure its comprehensive implementation is to ensure that the Party’s basic theory, basic line, and basic policy are carried out. Xi Jinping has pointed out: "We must strengthen the supervision and inspection of the observance and execution of the Party Constitution. We must promptly remind those with a weak sense of the Party Constitution or those who do not act according to its provisions, and resolutely correct acts that seriously violate the Party Constitution, so that the entire Party together upholds the authority and solemnity of the Party Constitution." Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the development of systems and mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the Party Constitution, issuing a series of intra-Party regulations to safeguard its execution and forming a rich body of institutional outcomes. Looking ahead, the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution still requires systematic theoretical interpretation and the bridging of gaps in practical application.

I. Statement of the Problem

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed to "perfect the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics centered on the Constitution and strengthen the implementation of the Constitution," making a major strategic deployment to "sound the systems for constitutional implementation and supervision." The report to the 19th National Congress proposed to "strengthen the implementation and supervision of the Constitution, advance the work of constitutionality review, and uphold the authority of the Constitution." The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized "perfecting the systems and mechanisms to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the Constitution." These are all major strategic measures for persisting in and improving the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics. Since the 18th National Congress, the system of intra-Party regulations has been incorporated into the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, becoming an important component of comprehensively advancing the law-based governance of the country, while governing the Party in accordance with regulations (依规治党 yīguī zhìdǎng) has become an important grasp ^[1] for the comprehensive advancement of law-based governance. Law-based governance focuses on the comprehensive implementation and supervision of the Constitution; governing the Party in accordance with regulations focuses on the comprehensive implementation and supervision of the Party Constitution. The comprehensive implementation and supervision of the Constitution have already been incorporated into the strategic deployments of the Party and the State and have formed specific institutions. For example, the constitutional supervision system of the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee has been perfected, a constitutionality review system has been established, National Constitution Day has been designated, constitutional education has been widely conducted, and a constitutional oath system has been established, among others. In April 2023, the CPC Central Committee, in its notice to Party committees (Party leadership groups) at all levels regarding the issuance of the "Outline of the Plan for Formulating Central Intra-Party Regulations (2023–2027)," clearly pointed out: "We must seize upon the key factor of implementation, place the implementation of the Party Constitution and regulations in a more prominent position, and strive for the implementation of the system of intra-Party regulations with a spirit of driving nails ^[2]." This indicates that the conditions for establishing and sounding the systems and mechanisms to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution are now ripe, both in theory and in practice.

There are various ways to implement the Constitution, such as the concretization of the constitutional spirit through its integration into various laws and regulations, and constitutionality review. Because the Constitution is the fundamental law, the power of interpretation belongs to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Therefore, the Constitution cannot be implemented as a specific legal basis; instead, systems and mechanisms for its comprehensive implementation must be formed. The status of the Party Constitution within the system of intra-Party regulations is similar to that of the Constitution within the system of laws and regulations. As the fundamental law within the Party, the provisions of the Party Constitution also need to be realized through specific intra-Party regulations. Revisions to the Party Constitution can only occur through the National Congress of the Party, and the power of interpretation for the Party Constitution still needs to be clearly defined within intra-Party regulations. It is necessary to perfect mechanisms for "con-Constitutional" review (合章性审查 hézhāngxìng shěnchá), and to establish punishment mechanisms for Party members and cadres who violate the Party Constitution. The comprehensive implementation of the Constitution can ensure the smooth advancement of law-based governance; likewise, the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution ensures the governing of the Party in accordance with regulations while simultaneously leading and driving law-based governance. Its role and significance are self-evident.

At present, domestic academic research on the implementation of the Party Constitution is still in its nascent stage. The limited research results focus only on significance, primary problems, and practical paths, aiming to highlight the efficacy of the Party Constitution’s implementation. They do not treat the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution as a "systematic project" or propose it as a major policy recommendation. Existing research lacks academic rigor and practicality, and its guiding significance for theory and practice is insufficient. Therefore, to fully grasp the transformation of the Party Constitution from a static text to dynamic implementation, it is necessary to examine the internal logic, significance, and historical evolution of its comprehensive implementation from a broader perspective. This will provide guidance for promoting the development of intra-Party regulations in the New Era toward greater depth and achieving a higher level of governing the Party in accordance with regulations.

II. The Historical Experience of the CPC in Promoting the Implementation of the Party Constitution

In more than a century of struggle, the CPC has based itself on Party building, drawing on the experiences and lessons of the international communist movement, and has formed a wealth of historical experience in consciously and actively implementing the Party Constitution.

First, establishing a system for the interpretation of the Party Constitution. As the fundamental law of the Party, the Party Constitution is highly condensed, abstract, and stable; it can only be formulated or revised by the National Congress of the Party. This necessitates a system for its interpretation to resolve the contradiction between the stability of the text and the fluid nature of practice. The 2nd National Congress of the Party passed the first CPC Constitution, in which Article 28 clearly stipulated: "The power to revise this Constitution belongs to the National Congress; the power of interpretation belongs to the Central Executive Committee." From the 2nd to the 4th National Congress, the power of interpretation belonged to the Central Executive Committee. In June 1927, the "Draft Resolution on the Third Revision of the Constitution of the Communist Party of China" passed by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee deleted the provisions regarding the subject of interpretation. The 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th National Congresses all saw the Party Vice-Chairmen or the General Secretary (in charge of the Secretariat) provide interpretations and explanations of the amendments to the Party Constitution. In 1956, Mao Zedong, in his "Concluding Speech at the Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee," proposed: "Is it possible to follow the method of the People’s Congress and establish permanent representatives of the Party? We have a people’s parliament and a Party parliament—the Party parliament is the National Congress. What is the benefit of establishing permanent representatives? It allows us to hold a National Congress once a year." This suggestion by Mao Zedong was immediately met with unanimous approval from the collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee. The 8th National Congress listed the "permanent representative system" for Party congresses as a key content of the constitutional revision, proposing to change congresses at the county level and above to a permanent basis. However, after the Second Session of the 8th National Congress, the annual meeting system for the National Congress was not maintained. Revisions and interpretations of the Party Constitution could only be conducted every five years or even longer at the National Congress. Due to the absence of a routine interpretation system, many correct provisions of the 8th Party Constitution were not effectively implemented, nor could they correct the "Leftist" factors appearing in practical work, leading to errors such as the "Cultural Revolution." Since the reform and opening-up period, beginning with the 12th National Congress, every National Congress has provided an interpretation and explanation of the Party Constitution in the form of a resolution on the amendment, reviewed and passed by all delegates. On March 5, 1996, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) issued a reply (Zhongjifa Fu ^[1996] No. 2) on how to understand the "special circumstances" mentioned in Article 40, Paragraph 1, of the Party Constitution. This was a major attempt to establish a routine system for interpreting the Party Constitution.

Second, cultivating an institutional culture of observing the Party Constitution. In the soil of a society of acquaintances and loose modes of production formed by China’s thousands of years of agrarian civilization—and particularly in the soil of autocratic culture and relations of personal dependence formed by feudal society—it is difficult to cultivate an organizational culture that meets the requirements of the era of industrial civilization, especially a Party Constitution culture characterized by strict disciplinary requirements. The CPC integrated Marxism—the great intellectual achievement of the industrial era—into the soil of excellent traditional Chinese culture, establishing a vertically integrated organizational system and strict organizational discipline over a century of struggle. However, due to historical influences, a patriarchal style ^[3] among leading cadres and phenomena of "scatterism" (分散主义 fēnsàn zhǔyì) within the Party ranks have persisted for a long time. In August 1980, Deng Xiaoping pointed out at an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau: "Patriarchy is an ancient social phenomenon with a very long history, and its influence has caused great harm in our Party’s history. Chen Duxiu, Wang Ming, and Zhang Guotao all engaged in patriarchy." Furthermore, during certain historical periods, some Party members and cadres were influenced by the mindset of political revolutionary campaigns, which compressed the space for the Party Constitution to function as the fundamental law and general charter, hindering the cultivation of an institutional culture of observing the Constitution. The report to the 13th National Congress proposed to rely on reform and institutions to forge a new path for Party building; since then, institutional building has become a vital component of Party building. As institutional building develops, the authority of the Party Constitution increases, and an institutional culture of observing it is more easily formed.

Third, primary Party leaders taking the lead in observing the Party Constitution. During the CPC’s founding period, due to the influence of the patriarchal style, the awareness of primary leaders to take the lead in executing the Party Constitution was relatively weak. In fact, during the New Democratic Revolution ^[4], there were many cases of Party members and cadres violating the Party Constitution and betraying the Party organization. Examples include the Shunzhi Provincial Committee Secretary Incident around 1928, Zhang Guotao’s establishment of a separate "Central Committee" during the Long March, and Wang Ming’s publication of declarations, resolutions, and articles with erroneous views without the consent of the CPC Central Committee while working in Wuhan during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. An important reason for these problems was the lack of a powerful collective leadership and a "leadership core" within the Party, which made it impossible to form effective cohesion and led to poor execution of political and organizational discipline, with primary comrades failing to lead by example. After the 7th Party Constitution was formulated, Mao Zedong took the lead in executing it, greatly increasing the force of implementation, solemnizing intra-Party political life, and achieving the Party's unity.

Fourth, concretizing and institutionalizing the provisions of the Party Constitution. During its founding period, the CPC formulated a series of organizational, disciplinary, propaganda, educational, and cadre system regulations centered on the Party Constitution, allowing its provisions to be concretized and institutionalized. For example, at the Enlarged Sixth Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee in 1938, Mao Zedong first proposed the concept of "intra-Party regulations" and, based on the principles of the Party Constitution, passed three intra-Party regulations—work rules and discipline for the Central Committee, work rules and discipline for Party branches at all levels, and provisional organizational structures for Party committees at all levels—which effectively upheld the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. The 8th Party Constitution proposed many new theses and measures, such as the permanent and annual meeting systems for Party congresses, the collective leadership system, the honorary Party chairmanship, the idea that the Party must be a tool for the people, and opposition to the cult of personality. However, the failure to formulate intra-Party regulations capable of implementing these new theses and measures was an important reason why the 8th Party Constitution was difficult to implement. Since the reform and opening-up, the intensity of concretizing and institutionalizing the provisions of the Party Constitution has increased significantly, and many intra-Party regulations have been issued. However, intra-Party regulations are like "public law" in the legal sense; they lack an embedded self-execution mechanism. Procedural regulations must be matched with substantive regulations to ensure effective implementation.

Fifth, establishing specialized organs for the supervision and implementation of the Party Constitution. The implementation of the Party Constitution cannot succeed without supervision mechanisms and mechanisms for reviewing and disposing of those who violate it. The 5th National Congress in May 1927 passed the "Resolution on the Organizational Problem," which stipulated for the first time the establishment of a Central Commission for Supervision (中央监察委员会). This was the first time an organ for disciplinary inspection and supervision was established within the Party. The 6th National Congress expanded the central and provincial supervision commissions into "Review Committees" (审查委员会) elected by congresses at all levels to supervise the finance, accounting, and work of various organs at each level. The 7th National Congress adjusted this, stipulating that the Central Commission for Supervision be elected by the Plenary Session of the Central Committee, and local commissions be elected by local plenary sessions; their tasks were to "decide on or cancel punishments for members and handle appeals." The Party Constitution passed at the 8th National Congress added to the powers of the commissions for supervision the duty to "frequently check and handle cases of Party members violating the Party Constitution, Party discipline, communist morality, and state laws and decrees." During the "Cultural Revolution," the 9th National Congress issued regulations that abolished articles related to intra-Party democracy and supervision, and supervision organs were liquidated under the guise of "streamlining institutions." Thus, the Party Constitutions of the 9th and 10th Congresses lacked institutional guarantees for supervision, making it difficult to correct the Party's errors. After the reform and opening-up, the 12th National Congress report clearly stipulated that the CCDI be elected by the National Congress and local commissions be elected by their respective local congresses, exercising supervision over the Party committees and their members at the same level within the scope of the Party Constitution. The 12th Party Constitution defined the primary tasks of the commissions for discipline inspection as upholding the Party Constitution and other important regulations, assisting Party committees in rectifying Party style, and inspecting the execution of the Party’s line, principles, policies, and resolutions, thereby clarifying the commissions' responsibility to supervise the implementation of the Party Constitution.

Sixth is the reinforcement of the consensus-based, practical, and hereditary nature of the Party Constitution’s text. The more a text can build consensus within the Party, the more authoritative it becomes. In the early period after the founding of the Communist Party of China, the instructions and experiences of the Comintern ^[5] were for a time sacralized. The Party’s own independence and autonomy were weak; many decisions made by the Party were divorced from the reality of the Chinese revolution, consensus was lacking within the Party, and the authority of the Party Constitution was low. As Liu Shaoqi pointed out in On the Party, "because of special circumstances, many parts of the Constitution adopted by the Sixth National Congress ^[6] were inapplicable, which created a habit among many members of not emphasizing or strictly implementing the Constitution." A major reason the Constitution of the Seventh National Congress ^[7] possessed high authority was that the Yan’an Rectification Movement ^[8] unified the thought, will, and action of the whole Party. The Constitution adopted by the Eighth National Congress ^[9] began its drafting process as early as the second half of 1955; because there was sufficient time for discussion and writing, the textual framework of this Constitution was complete, and its language accurate and standardized. Conversely, the drafting processes for the Constitutions adopted by the Ninth and Tenth National Congresses were relatively hasty, and their textual structure and normativity were poor. From the perspective of the above experiences, the more the text of the Party Constitution can be integrated with reality, the better the effect of its implementation. The Constitution of the Eighth National Congress wrote in provisions for establishing a permanent tenure system for Party congresses. In November 1956, the "Provisions of the CPC Central Committee on Issues Concerning the Implementation of Permanent Tenure for Local Party Congresses Convened Before the Eighth National Congress" was released, making clear regulations on the composition and by-election of delegates. However, the permanent tenure system for Party congresses was divorced from the reality of the time. After the Second Session of the Eighth National Congress, the CPC Central Committee level no longer convened annual Party congresses. Looking at the revisions of the text, the better the relationship between inheritance and development is handled, the easier the Constitution is to implement. The Constitution of the Eighth National Congress reflected the CPC’s understanding at that time of the laws governing China’s path to building socialism and the building of a governing party; it accurately reflected the new situation and requirements of governing party construction and pointed the way for socialist modernization. The Ninth and Tenth Congress Constitutions negated the Eighth Congress Constitution to a large extent. The Eleventh Congress Constitution absorbed the advantages of the Eighth Congress Constitution to some degree, yet it still persisted in the content of the Ninth and Tenth Congresses regarding major political lines. The Constitutions adopted by every National Congress since the Twelfth National Congress ^[10] have all better handled the relationship between inheritance and development on the textual basis of the Twelfth Congress Constitution.

III. New Explorations of the Comprehensive Implementation of the Party Constitution in the New Era

The efficacy of a system lies in its execution; this is especially true for the Party Constitution as the fundamental law within the Party. Xi Jinping emphasized: "The whole Party must firmly establish an awareness of the Party Constitution, truly regard the Party Constitution as the fundamental standard for strengthening Party spirit cultivation and as the fundamental basis for guiding Party work, intra-Party activities, and Party building, and implement all provisions of the Party Constitution in actions and across all undertakings."

(1) Theoretical Innovations in the Comprehensive Implementation of the Party Constitution in the New Era Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution has clarified at least the following three pairs of relationships in theory.

First is the relationship between Party leadership and socialist rule of law. At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping provided a profound exposition on the relationship between Party leadership and governing the country according to law (yifa zhiguo), pointing out that Party leadership is the most defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the most fundamental guarantee of socialist rule of law. He noted: "Party leadership and socialist rule of law are consistent; socialist rule of law must persist in Party leadership, and Party leadership must rely on socialist rule of law." He further stated: "Our country’s Constitution reflects, in the form of fundamental law, the achievements of the Party leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform, and establishes the leading position of the CPC formed through the choice of history and the people." He emphasized: "Adhering to Party leadership is not an empty slogan; it must be specifically embodied in the Party leading legislation, ensuring law enforcement, supporting the judiciary, and taking the lead in observing the law."

Second is the relationship between the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution and the comprehensive implementation of the state Constitution. To implement the strategy of comprehensively governing the country according to law, we must both establish and improve mechanisms to guarantee the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution and establish and improve mechanisms to guarantee the implementation of the state Constitution; the two promote each other. The CPC leads the people in formulating the Constitution and laws, and also leads the people in executing them, and it moves within the scope of the Constitution and laws itself; intra-Party regulations are both an important basis for governing the Party and a powerful guarantee for building a socialist rule of law country. On August 24, 2018, at the first meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Law-Based Governance, Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must exert the complementary role of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations (yigui zhidang), ensuring that the Party both governs the country and manages state affairs according to the Constitution and laws, and manages and strictly governs the Party according to intra-Party regulations."

Third is the relationship between the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution and the implementation of intra-Party regulations. The Party Constitution is the most fundamental intra-Party regulation; without a mechanism to guarantee its comprehensive implementation, it is difficult to ensure the effective operation of intra-Party regulations. The effective operation of intra-Party regulations is a prerequisite for the alignment of discipline and law and the connectivity of different legal systems, which ultimately affects the implementation and supervision of the state Constitution. Xi Jinping pointed out: "To establish and improve the system of intra-Party regulations, we must take the Party Constitution as the fundamental basis; to judge the performance of Party organizations at all levels and Party members and cadres, we must take the Party Constitution as the basic standard; to resolve intra-Party contradictions, we must take the Party Constitution as the fundamental rule." The implementation of the Party Constitution must be realized within intra-Party regulations of different ranks. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee has carried out a "supply-side structural reform" of intra-Party regulations, establishing and perfecting various procedural supporting mechanisms, and clarifying seven forms: the Constitution (zhangcheng), general principles (zhunze), regulations (tiaoli), provisions (guiding), measures (banfa), rules (guize), and detailed rules (xize). This has greatly enhanced the executive force of intra-Party regulations and immensely maintained the authority of the Party Constitution.

(2) Practical Innovations in the Comprehensive Implementation of the Party Constitution in the New Era Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC’s efforts in the comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution can be described as "making rapid strides via small steps," achieving many accomplishments that can be summarized in the following aspects.

First, placing the Party's political construction first and taking the implementation of the Party Constitution as an important content of political supervision. The 19th National Congress of the CPC for the first time incorporated the Party's political construction into the overall layout of Party building, using it to command all aspects of Party building work. The "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Party's Political Construction" stipulates: "We must take the Party Constitution as the fundamental follow-through, and put the nature, purpose, guiding ideology, goals, line, and program clearly defined in the Party Constitution into practice," and requires all regions and departments to "strengthen political supervision, focusing on discovering and correcting political deviations." As the specialized organs for intra-Party supervision, commissions for discipline inspection have the primary tasks of maintaining the Party Constitution and other intra-Party regulations, checking the implementation of the Party’s line, principles, policies, and resolutions, and assisting Party committees in advancing the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), Xi Jinping emphasized that the discipline inspection and supervision front must focus on implementation, where the primary task is to "strengthen political supervision to guarantee institutional execution, and enhance the political consciousness of the 'Two Upholds'." Discipline inspection and supervision organs focus on political supervision, using the Party Constitution, regulations, and discipline as the basis and yardstick, and political construction as the command, to advance all Party building work, persist in and improve the Party and state supervision systems, and push the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party toward greater depth.

Second, placing the Party's discipline construction in a more prominent position to ensure the implementation of the Party Constitution is specific, procedural, and institutionalized. The report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC first proposed the concept of "Party discipline construction." The report of the 19th National Congress for the first time listed discipline construction alongside political, ideological, organizational, and style construction, as well as institutional construction, in the overall framework of Party building. The report of the 20th National Congress continued to emphasize the need to strengthen the rectification of style and the tightening of discipline with a strict tone, comprehensively strengthen the Party's discipline construction, and promote the normalization and long-term effectiveness of style construction. To revere the Party Constitution, one must transform the general prohibitive provisions of the Party Constitution into specific manifestations of disciplinary violations within disciplinary norms and clear regulations for corresponding disciplinary actions. Since the 18th National Congress, Party discipline has refined the provisions of the Party Constitution across six dimensions—political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, mass line discipline, work discipline, and life discipline—establishing a unified, complete, and scientific system of discipline and institutional rules, marking the "red lines" that Party organizations and members must not touch. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee promoted the specification, proceduralization, and institutionalization of the dual leadership system for the Party’s discipline inspection work, further strengthening the leadership of higher-level commissions for discipline inspection over lower-level ones. After the 19th National Congress, based on pilot programs, a Party-led, all-encompassing, authoritative, and efficient Party and state supervision system was formed through the administrative integration of commissions for discipline inspection and supervisory commissions at all levels. As the authority of intra-Party supervisory bodies has been greatly enhanced and various intra-Party regulations and systems have been vigorously implemented, the New Era has become the period in the history of the CPC with the strongest intensity and best results in guaranteeing the implementation of the Party Constitution.

Third, taking ideological construction as a foundational project for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and implementing the study and education of the Party Constitution across all aspects of intra-Party political life. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Governing the Party strictly relies on education as well as systems; one is soft and the other is hard, and they must exert force in the same direction and at the same time." Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to Party Constitution education. Whether it was the Mass Line Education and Practice Activity, the "Three Stricts and Three Steads" ^[11] thematic education, the "Two Studies, One Action" ^[12] learning and education, the "Staying True to Our Original Aspiration and Founding Mission" thematic education, the Party history learning and education, or the thematic education on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, all have taken the study of the Party Constitution as a vital component to ensure that the Party Constitution, regulations, and discipline enter the minds and hearts of members. In particular, the "Two Studies, One Action" learning and education explicitly made the Party Constitution, the "CPC Standards for Integrity and Self-Discipline," and the "CPC Disciplinary Action Regulations" the focus of study, requiring members to keep in mind Party regulations and discipline, the Party’s fine traditions and style, and to establish lofty moral pursuits while forming a habit of consciously obeying the Party Constitution and holding the baseline and bottom line for conduct. The 2023 "Opinions on Establishing a System of Lists of Intra-Party Regulations and National Laws that Leading Cadres Should Know and Master," issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, further placed the earnest study of the Party Constitution as the primary requirement for learning intra-Party regulations. It requires leading cadres to treat the study of the Party Constitution as a compulsory course and basic skill, profoundly understanding that the Party Constitution is the fundamental law of the Party and the fundamental code of conduct that the whole Party must jointly observe. They are to regulate their words and actions using the Party Constitution, act strictly according to its requirements, and always maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in terms of political stance, direction, principles, and path. According to the requirements of the CPC Central Committee, Party schools and cadre academies at all levels should make the study of the Party Constitution a compulsory course for training Party leading cadres; theoretical study center groups of Party committees (Party leadership groups) should take the study of the Party Constitution as important content; and secretaries of Party organizations at all levels, as the persons with primary responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, should focus on grasping education regarding the Party Constitution, regulations, and discipline.

Fourth, persisting in taking the Party Constitution as the foundation and deeply advancing the construction of the system of intra-Party regulations. The system of intra-Party regulations is an organic, unified whole composed of regulations at various levels and fields, with the Party Constitution as the foundation, democratic centralism as the core, central intra-Party regulations such as "principles" and "regulations" as the backbone, and ministerial and local intra-Party regulations as important components. The "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Construction of the System of Intra-Party Regulations" stipulates that, according to the principle of coordinating "regulating subjects, regulating behavior, and regulating supervision," the system of intra-Party regulations takes "1+4" as its basic framework: that is, under the Party Constitution, it is divided into four major blocks: regulations on the Party’s organization, regulations on the Party’s leadership, regulations on the Party’s self-construction, and regulations on the Party’s supervision and guarantee. In the system of intra-Party regulations, the Party Constitution is the most fundamental regulation, the source of all intra-Party regulations, and the basis and grounds for formulating all intra-Party regulations. Since the 18th National Congress, the formulation of intra-Party regulations has always taken the Party Constitution as the fundamental follow-through, consistently achieving reverence for, implementation of, and maintenance of the Party Constitution. Every intra-Party regulation passed, without exception, clearly proposes in its "General Provisions" or "Guiding Ideology" sections that the Party Constitution is the fundamental follow-through, comprehensively implementing the spirit and provisions of the Party Constitution in its content. This systematic and specific application of the Party Constitution’s requirements effectively maintains its authority and seriousness. A large batch of landmark, key, and leading intra-Party regulations has been released, while the CPC Central Committee has coordinately promoted the construction of supporting regulations, increasingly tightening the "cage" of Party discipline and regulations. A relatively complete system of intra-Party regulations has been formed, providing a strong institutional guarantee for persisting in and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership and for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, thereby further consolidating the authority of the Party Constitution.

Fifth, a responsibility system for the implementation of intra-Party regulations ^[13] has been established surrounding the execution of the Party Constitution. There is no secret trick to implementing and executing regulatory systems; the key lies in earnest implementation and the reliance on strict management. There are many reasons for the ineffective execution of intra-Party regulations, but the primary cause lies in the ambiguity of responsibility for such execution. The Regulations on the Responsibility System for the Execution of Intra-Party Regulations of the Communist Party of China (Trial) (hereafter "the Regulations"), issued in 2019, is the first specialized Party regulation aimed at improving the executive force of intra-Party regulations, promoting their comprehensive and in-depth implementation, and establishing a responsibility system for execution. The Regulations clearly define the executive responsibilities of various types of Party organizations at all levels—including Party committees (leading Party groups), Party work departments, primary-level Party organizations, and Party discipline inspection organs—as well as leading Party cadres. It refines a hierarchical and tiered executive responsibility system and establishes sound supporting mechanisms focused on deploying and promoting executive work, capacity building for execution, and implementation assessment. The Regulations are conducive to fundamentally resolving the problem of "difficulty in execution" ^[14] regarding intra-Party regulations, providing a strong institutional guarantee for promoting the development of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in depth.

Sixth, the system for formulating intra-Party regulations has been refined, and a mechanism for constitutionality review ^[15] has been established. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to improving the quality of intra-Party regulations. It has successively issued documents such as the Opinions of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee on Carrying Out the Cleanup of Intra-Party Regulations and Normative Documents, the Provisions on the Interpretation of Intra-Party Regulations of the Communist Party of China, and the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Construction of Intra-Party Regulatory Systems. Furthermore, in 2019, revisions were made to the Regulations on the Formulation of Intra-Party Regulations of the Communist Party of China (hereafter "the Formulation Regulations") released by the CPC Central Committee in 2012, and the Regulations on the Filing of Intra-Party Regulations and Normative Documents of the Communist Party of China (hereafter "the Filing Regulations") issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee in 2012. These revisions specifically highlighted concrete institutional provisions for upholding the authority of the Party Constitution. For instance, the Formulation Regulations require that the work of formulating intra-Party regulations must take adherence to the Party Constitution as a fundamental principle. Both it and the Filing Regulations require a review of the legality and compliance of intra-Party regulatory systems, which includes a constitutionality review. Currently, the mechanism for constitutionality review of intra-Party regulations and normative documents has been initially established. According to the authors' understanding, this primarily includes two types: institutional arrangements for general prevention ("general prevention") and review systems for special circumstances ("special review"). "General prevention" refers to the procedural review of all intra-Party regulations and normative documents during their formulation and filing periods to determine whether they conflict with the Party Constitution; this mainly includes the preliminary audit system ("preliminary self-audit") and the filing review system ("ex post facto external audit"). "Preliminary self-audit" refers to the relevant formulating body submitting the draft of the intra-Party regulation or normative document to the reviewing and approving authority for audit; it can only be promulgated and implemented after the latter passes the audit. "Ex post facto external audit" refers to the filing review conducted by higher-level Party organizations on the intra-Party regulations and normative documents reported for filing by lower-level Party organizations. "Special review" refers to the CPC Central Committee or review organs exercising their authority to review and handle content within intra-Party regulations and normative documents that have already taken effect through filing but violate the Party Constitution. According to existing institutional arrangements, "special review" primarily includes two scenarios: first, according to Article 32 of the Formulation Regulations, if intra-Party regulations formulated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, work departments of the Central Committee, or Party committees of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government conflict with the Party Constitution, the Central Committee shall order corrections or rescissions; second, Article 15, Paragraph 2 of the Filing Regulations stipulates that if a review organ discovers problems in intra-Party regulations or normative documents that have already passed the filing process, it may restart the review procedure. Currently, the work of constitutionality review for intra-Party regulatory systems is increasingly expanding. Party committees at the central, provincial, municipal, and county levels are carrying out filing reviews tier by tier, achieving full coverage of the regulatory documents formulated by Party discipline inspection organs, Party work departments, and local Party committees. A linkage mechanism for the filing and review of normative documents has been established between the systems of the Party committee, the People's Congress, the government, and the military, better realizing the goals of "filing every item, reviewing every filing, and correcting every error." ^[16]

IV. Conclusion

The implementation and supervision of the Party Constitution are inherent requirements of Marxist Party-building theory, the "success code" for the Communist Party of China’s growth from small to large and from weak to strong, and an important component of the CPC Central Committee’s strategic policy of sticking to comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and the strategic thought of self-revolution in the New Era. Enhancing the consciousness and initiative of the implementation of the Party Constitution ultimately depends on building and improving the systems and mechanisms for its comprehensive implementation. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, these systems and mechanisms have been continuously refined, becoming key measures in constructing the institutional and normative system for the Party's self-revolution. The comprehensive implementation of the Party Constitution is "always on the road" ^[17]; in the future, we must continue to shore up weak links and constantly improve the revision mechanism, interpretation mechanism, and publicity and education mechanism of the Party Constitution, as well as the constitutionality review mechanism for intra-Party regulations.

To take the refinement of the Party Constitution revision mechanism as an example, we must further clarify the subjects entitled to propose revisions to ensure that Party members and their representatives can effectively express opinions and suggestions; further clarify revision procedures by comprehensively standardizing a series of procedures such as the initiation of revisions, the submission of revision plans, the formation and deliberation of the draft for comments, and the deliberation and adoption of the final version for voting at the National Congress; and further clarify the principles of revision, ensuring that modifications and adjustments to the Party Constitution remain moderate to strive for its stability and authority. Regarding the interpretation mechanism, the subjects of interpretation must be the Party's highest leading organs or standing organs—namely, the National Congress of the Party and the Central Committee it produces—to ensure that the power to interpret the Party Constitution can be activated whenever necessary. Stricter adoption procedures should be applied to interpretations, and the grounds for interpretation should be clearly defined. For the publicity and education mechanism, we must persist in the normalization and long-term effectiveness of study and education, distinguish between the focus and tiers of such education, and strengthen the building of the textbook system and the talent pool for "Party Constitution Studies," among other efforts. Finally, for the constitutionality review mechanism, we must establish a coordination and communication mechanism for the filing and review of intra-Party regulations and normative documents, ensuring that review standards, procedures, and handling methods are interconnected. We must also manage the relationship between "general prevention" and "special review," taking "general prevention" as the primary focus and "special review" as a supplement, while strictly limiting review work to the periods of formulation and filing as much as possible.

(Affiliation: Department of Party Building, Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China [National Academy of Governance])