Xu Fengzhen and Zheng Peie: A Three-Dimensional Interpretation of the Image Construction of Marxist Political Parties from the Perspective of Self-Revolution in the New Era

The "historical conclusion" reached in the Resolution of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee—that "an advanced Marxist party is not born, but is tempered through continuous self-revolution"—not only highly encapsulates the historical experience of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) century of struggle, but also reveals the intrinsic logical relationship between the Party's self-revolution and the shaping of a Marxist party image. Self-revolution is an important path for shaping the image of a Marxist party; the process of the CPC advancing self-revolution is the process of continuously shaping its own image. Entering the New Era, the CPC has advanced self-revolution with unprecedented courage and resolve, achieving historical and pioneering accomplishments. This has not only greatly enhanced the Party's capacity for self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal, and self-improvement, but has also laid a solid practical foundation and injected powerful endogenous impetus for further shaping the image of a Marxist party. Exploring the value significance, concrete manifestation, and deepening path of the shaping of a Marxist party image from the three dimensions of "why," "what," and "how" under the perspective of self-revolution in the New Era—and revealing the internal operating mechanisms between the Party's self-revolution and its image-shaping—is both an internal requirement for the CPC to maintain the advanced nature and purity of a Marxist party in the New Era and an objective necessity for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.

I. Why: The Value Significance of Shaping a Marxist Party Image from the Perspective of Self-Revolution in the New Era

The image of a political party possesses specific connotations; it is the outward manifestation of the party’s essential attributes, value concepts, spiritual character, and practical effectiveness. The shaping of the CPC’s party image refers to the process by which the CPC gradually wins broad recognition by displaying and disseminating its practices and achievements in governing the Party. The CPC’s theory of self-revolution in the New Era provides scientific guidance for shaping the Party’s image, while its spirit of self-revolution in the New Era provides spiritual support. Rooted in the perspective of self-revolution in the New Era, led by the theory of self-revolution and supported by the spirit of self-revolution, advancing the shaping of a Marxist party image helps provide an important guarantee for comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.

(1) An objective requirement to demonstrate the leading role of the CPC's theory of self-revolution in the New Era

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on the Party’s self-revolution systematically answers major questions such as "why our Party must undergo self-revolution, why it can undergo self-revolution, and how to advance self-revolution." It provides both an ideological weapon and an action manual for deeply advancing self-revolution, as well as scientific guidance for shaping a Marxist party image from the perspective of self-revolution in the New Era. Specifically, at the level of "why self-revolution is necessary," it clarifies that self-revolution is the Party's "second answer" ^[1] to escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall ^[2], and is an inevitable requirement for the Party to remain advanced and pure, win people’s support, and grasp historical initiative. This provides the logical premise for shaping the Marxist party image. At the level of "why self-revolution is possible," it clarifies that the CPC is able to conduct self-revolution because it adheres to the guidance of scientific Marxist theory and always represents the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of the Chinese people. This not only reveals the CPC’s identity as a Marxist party but also embodies the "people-centered" principle in shaping the image of a Marxist party. At the level of "how to advance self-revolution," it clarifies: "taking the persistence of the Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership as the fundamental guarantee"; "taking the leadership of a great social revolution as the fundamental purpose"; "taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the fundamental follow"; "taking escaping the historical cycle as the strategic goal"; "taking the resolution of the unique challenges facing a large party ^[3] as the main direction of attack"; "taking the improvement of the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as the effective path"; "taking the forging of strong organizations and the construction of high-quality cadres as the important focus"; "taking the rectification of conduct, enforcement of discipline, and anti-corruption as the important grasp"; and "taking the combination of self-oversight and oversight by the people as the powerful engine." This "combination of punches" ^[4] in the Party’s self-revolution provides the practical follow for shaping the Marxist party image in the New Era. Xi Jinping’s profound and systematic exposition has not only transformed the Party’s self-revolution from an abstract concept into a systematized and academicized theoretical system with specific goals, clear values, and distinct paths, but has also enabled the Party to continuously enhance its image-shaping power through the latest results of innovative theory.

(2) An inevitable requirement to demonstrate the supporting role of the CPC's spirit of self-revolution in the New Era

The shaping of a party image is not a short-term linear behavior accomplished overnight; rather, it is a long-term systemic project that requires persisting over the long term. The shaping of a party image relies not only on theoretical guidance but also on solid spiritual support. Only by forming a lasting endogenous impetus at the spiritual level—where "the Party’s self-revolution is always on the road"—can one prevent the emergence of slackness, "resting on one's oars," or "warweary" sentiments. Only then can the Party effectively prevent the "Four Winds" from rebounding, resurging, or undergoing invisible variations, thereby providing powerful spiritual support for shaping the image of a Marxist party. This supporting role of the spirit of self-revolution is mainly reflected in three aspects: First, the political consciousness of facing problems squarely and the courage to correct mistakes demonstrated in the spirit of self-revolution allow the Party to maintain the political character of self-awareness, self-examination, and self-correction in the face of risks and challenges. It shows a fighting spirit ^[5] that dares to "touch the hard stuff" ^[6] in the practice of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, dares to "unsheathe the sword" ^[7] against chronic ailments like formalism and bureaucratism, and dares to confront difficulties head-on when dealing with deep-seated problems in reform, development, and stability. This provides spiritual support for shaping the Party into a Marxist "responsibility-oriented party" that takes initiative and is adept at breaking through obstacles. Second, the ideological consciousness of "remaining true to the original aspiration and founding mission" contained in the spirit of self-revolution serves as the internal drive for Chinese Communists to strengthen their faith in Marxism and their belief in socialism and communism. It becomes the spiritual force for the Party to stand firm on its people-centered position and commit to the mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. This provides spiritual support for shaping the Party into a Marxist "mission-oriented party" that practices its tenets and benefits the people. Third, the behavioral consciousness of "daring to struggle and being good at struggling" contained in the spirit of self-revolution becomes the spiritual foundation for the Party to continuously clear "foci of infection" ^[8] that erode the body politic during the anti-corruption struggle and the rectification of the "Four Winds." This achieves continuous self-purification and self-transcendence, winning the broad trust and support of the masses, and providing spiritual support for shaping the Party into a Marxist "integrity-oriented party" with strict discipline and an excellent conduct style.

II. What: The Concrete Manifestation of Shaping a Marxist Party Image from the Perspective of Self-Revolution in the New Era

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has advanced the "Great New Project of Party Building" in the New Era with a spirit of thorough self-revolution. Centering on the "5+2" general layout of Party building ^[9] in the New Era, it has integrated self-revolution into all aspects and the entire process of Party building, achieving remarkable results in shaping the image of a Marxist party.

(1) Shaping the image of a Marxist party that oversees the overall situation by taking the Party's political building as the overarching principle

In his speech at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping proposed the requirement to "adhere to taking the Party's political building as the overarching principle and steadfastly maintain the fundamental political direction of self-revolution." This clarified the position of political building and revealed the relationship between political building and self-revolution. Since the start of the New Era, the Party has always insisted on regarding political building as the overarching principle of self-revolution and has maintained the Central Committee's centralized and unified leadership throughout the process. On the one hand, maintaining the authority of the Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership is treated as the "primary task of the Party’s political building" and the fundamental guarantee for advancing self-revolution. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee required "improving the system of Party leadership that oversees the overall situation and coordinates all parties, ensuring Party leadership is implemented in all fields, aspects, and links of national governance." The Report to the 20th CPC National Congress further proposed "improving the mechanism for implementing the Central Committee's major decisions and deployments." At the institutional level, this has greatly promoted the entire Party’s high degree of ideological unity, absolute political loyalty, and synchronized action, ensuring the Party always plays the core leadership role of overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. On the other hand, the Party insists on using political building to lead all other work of Party building, integrating political standards and requirements throughout the process. For example, in ideological building, by emphasizing that "speaking politics with a clear-cut stand is the fundamental requirement of our Party as a Marxist party," it ensures that ideological building always revolves around strengthening political faith. In organizational building, by emphasizing that "the Party's organizational line serves the Party's political line," it ensures that political standards govern the selection of personnel and political functions strengthen the organizational foundation. In conduct building, by emphasizing that "the people's hearts are the greatest politics," it ensures the Party maintains close ties with the masses through an excellent work style. In disciplinary building, by emphasizing "strict political discipline and political rules," it ensures a political defense line for Party governance. In institutional building, by emphasizing "the need to enhance consciousness and determination in governing the Party according to regulations, grasping the political direction, elevating political standing, and shouldering political responsibility," it ensures the strengthening of political guidance. In the anti-corruption struggle, by emphasizing that "political corruption is the greatest corruption," it shows the determination to eliminate political hidden dangers that erode the Party’s foundation for governance.

(2) Shaping the image of a Marxist party with firm beliefs by taking the Party's ideological building as the foundation

Xi Jinping proposed the proposition to "adhere to taking ideological building as the Party's foundational building and tempering the sharp ideological weapon of self-revolution." This clarifies the position of ideological building while reflecting its function in the process of self-revolution. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party has treated ideological building as the foundation of self-revolution, strengthening it through theoretical armament, firming up ideals and beliefs, and enhancing Party spirit. In terms of theoretical armament, the Party insists on using "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" to "arm the whole Party, educate the people, and guide work," taking the study and mastery of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the core task. In terms of the ideological foundation, the Party uses education on ideals and beliefs to fortify the foundation of faith. Xi Jinping has summarized "ideals and beliefs" as "faith in Marxism, the lofty ideal of communism, and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics," calling them the "spiritual pillar and political soul of Chinese Communists." He also required that "firming up ideals and beliefs" be a "lifelong task" for Party members. In terms of Party spirit, the Party uses centralized thematic education as an important means of tempering Party spirit. Since the New Era began, the Central Committee has launched eight centralized learning programs, including education on Party discipline and the Eight-Point Regulations. This helps ensures that Party members fortify the foundation of their faith and "replenish their spiritual calcium" ^[10] through theoretical immersion.

(3) Shaping the image of a Marxist party with rigorous organization by taking the Party's organizational building as the basis

Xi Jinping pointed out...

“A rigorous organizational system is where the advantage and strength of a Marxist party lie.” Since the beginning of the New Era, the Party has taken organizational building as the foundation of self-revolution. It has not only “persisted in strengthening the political functions and the organizational and cohesive power of Party organizations, forging a cadre corps that is brave and adept at struggle and courageous in self-revolution,” but has also continuously enhanced the Party's creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness through the construction of the organizational system, the forging of the cadre corps, and the development of the Party membership.

Regarding the construction of the organizational system, the Party persists in continuously improving a system that links the higher and lower levels and ensures effective execution. The 2018 National Conference on Organizational Work proposed the Party's organizational line for the New Era, explicitly stating that it should “focus on the construction of the organizational system.” The 2023 National Conference on Organizational Work listed “persisting in a rigorous Party organizational system” as one of the "Thirteen Persistences," providing important adherence and organizational guarantees for deeply advancing the Party's self-revolution in the New Era.

In terms of forging the cadre corps, the Party has always regarded leading cadres as the backbone and mainstay of the Party's organizational system. With the goal of “focusing on cultivating high-quality cadres who are loyal, clean, and responsible, and focusing on gathering outstanding talents from all fields who are patriotic and dedicated,” the Party adheres to the principle of selecting and appointing people based on “both integrity and ability, with integrity as the priority, and appointing people on their merits.” Through the revision of the Regulations on the Selection and Appointment of Leading Cadres of the Party and Government, and the issuance of documents such as the Opinions on Further Encouraging Cadres to Take on New Responsibilities and Achieve New Success in the New Era and the Outline of the National Plan for the Construction of Party and Government Leading Bodies (2024–2028), the Party has standardized cadre selection criteria and clarified the principles for building leading bodies at the institutional level, providing rigid support for the continuous improvement of the capabilities, qualities, and sense of responsibility of the cadre corps.

Regarding the development of the Party membership, the Party regards members as the fundamental cells of the Party organization. By adhering to strict standards for recruiting members, strengthening the education and management of members, and dealing with unqualified members, the Party has continuously optimized the structure of its membership and maintained the advanced nature and purity of the rank and file. As of the end of 2024, there were 57.786 million Party members with a junior college degree or higher (accounting for 57.6%); 30.995 million female members (30.9%); and 7.734 million minority ethnic members (7.7%). Workers and peasants remain the mainstay of the Party membership, accounting for 32.7% of the total, injecting vitality into the Party's organizational system. Continuously strengthening the Party's organizational building in the process of self-revolution not only helps enhance the political and organizational functions of Party organizations but also provides solid organizational support for better shaping the image of a rigorously organized Marxist party in the New Era.

(4) Shaping the image of a clean and upright Marxist party by using the Party's conduct building as a grasp

In his speech at the First Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping made the judgment that “the Party's conduct concerns the Party's image, concerns the support or opposition of the people, and concerns the life or death of the Party,” revealing the important function of advancing the Party's conduct building in the process of the CPC's self-revolution. Entering the New Era, faced with chronic maladies of conduct such as formalism and bureaucratism, the Party has placed conduct building in a more prominent position. It has intensified efforts to rectify the “Four Winds,” focused on the “key minority” ^[11], and continuously improved regular and long-term mechanisms for conduct building, providing an important guarantee for the continuous improvement of Party and government conduct.

Specifically, first, the Party has untiringly corrected the “Four Winds” and continuously nurtured a new atmosphere of integrity. Addressing the stubborn and recurring nature of the “Four Winds,” the Central Committee has persisted in a problem-oriented approach, treating both symptoms and root causes while continuing to rectify the “Four Winds” with the "spirit of driving nails" ^[12]. For instance, by establishing a monthly reporting system for the implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations and improving the working mechanism for the simultaneous investigation and treatment of conduct issues and corruption, the Party has demonstrated its determination to resolutely curb the spread of unhealthy tendencies. Second, the Party emphasizes capturing the “key minority” of leading cadres, fully reflecting the political posture and demonstration effect of leading by example. Xi Jinping pointed out: “In the building of Party conduct and clean government, the key lies in leading cadres; the Central Committee, in particular, must take the lead.” By promoting the coordination of intra-Party supervision with other types of supervision, strengthening the supervision and restraint of the “key minority,” and prompting leading cadres to set an example, it helps drive a change in conduct among all Party members and cadres and forms an integrated linkage effect. Third, the Party promotes the normalization and long-term effectiveness of conduct building through the establishment and improvement of laws and regulations. Xi Jinping pointed out: Improving conduct building “fundamentally relies on institutions.” In response to new situations and problems in the Party's conduct building, the Central Committee has successively issued normative institutional documents such as the Eight-Point Regulations of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Improving Work Conduct and Maintaining Close Ties with the Masses, the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations, the Circular on Solving Prominent Problems of Formalism to Reduce Burdens at the Grassroots, and the Several Provisions on Rectifying Formalism to Reduce Burdens at the Grassroots. Gradually perfecting the regular and long-term mechanisms for conduct building helps advance the transition of conduct building from concentrated rectification toward institutionalization and standardization. The continuous deepening and institutional advancement of the Party's conduct building in the New Era not only lays a solid foundation for the entire Party to form a good style of serving the people, being pragmatic, and remaining incorruptible, but also helps provide a guarantee of conduct for better shaping the image of a clean and upright Marxist party.

(5) Shaping the image of a disciplined Marxist party with the support of the Party's discipline building

Xi Jinping not only regards strengthening discipline building as a “fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party,” but has also incorporated the Party's discipline building into the overall layout of Party building, highlighting its important status in the Party's self-revolution in the New Era. The Party takes the systematization of the content of Party discipline and the normalization and long-term effectiveness of discipline education as important supports, continuously tempering Party spirit and purifying Party conduct with iron discipline.

On one hand, by revising the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action, the Party has systematically integrated Party discipline into political, organizational, integrity, mass, work, and lifestyle discipline, continuously promoting the systematization of disciplinary content. The latest 2023 revision of the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action further tightens the Party's political discipline and political rules, refines the types of violations and punishment standards, and draws a clearer “bottom line of behavior” and “political red line” for Party members and cadres, helping to improve the level of institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of intra-Party political life.

On the other hand, in advancing the normalization and long-term effectiveness of discipline education, the CPC Central Committee issued the revised Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action in 2023, requiring that “the Regulations be included in the compulsory courses for the training of Party members and cadres to enhance their consciousness in observing rules and discipline.” In April 2024, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued the Circular on Carrying Out Party Discipline Study and Education Throughout the Party, requiring that “carrying out Party discipline study and education be regarded as an important political task,” guiding all Party members and cadres to learn, know, understand, and abide by discipline, which helps cultivate disciplinary consciousness. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee further made important deployments for strengthening discipline education, emphasizing the “establishment of a discipline education mechanism that combines regular and concentrated efforts, deepening the use of the ‘Four Forms’ ^[13] of supervision and discipline enforcement, and comprehensively exerting the binding, guaranteeing, and motivating roles of Party discipline education.” This helps promote the transition of discipline education from being concentrated and phased to being regular and institutionalized, and helps Party members and cadres “maintain awe, exercise caution, and hold the bottom line” ^[14], providing a disciplinary guarantee for better shaping the image of a disciplined Marxist party in the New Era.

(6) Shaping the image of a Marxist party governed according to regulations with the guarantee of the Party's institutional building

Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must persist in building a system of institutional norms for self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement to provide an institutional guarantee for advancing the great self-revolution.” Since the New Era, the Party has persisted in taking institutional building as the guarantee of self-revolution, emphasizing that “institutional building must be integrated into all aspects of Party building,” so that the process of the Party's self-revolution and the process of the Party's institutional building proceed in synchronization.

In this synchronized advancement, the Party adheres to the organic unity of institutional formulation and execution. At the level of formulation, the Party focuses on consolidating the institutional foundation for governing the Party by improving the system of intra-Party regulations. During the decade of the New Era, the Central Committee formulated and revised 156 intra-Party regulations, accounting for 70.5% of the currently effective intra-Party regulations. Among these, 45 are "criteria" (zhǔnzé) and "regulations" (tiáolì) that function as the “four beams and eight pillars” ^[15], accounting for 90% of the currently effective criteria and regulations. This data not only reflects the speed, quantity, and high quality of the construction of intra-Party regulations but also manifests the systematic, scientific, and authoritative nature of the institutional system. It marks that the Party has basically solved the problem of having “rules to follow” in its self-governance, achieving a transition from experience-based governance to institutional governance.

At the level of execution, the Party enhances the effectiveness of institutional execution by building a supervision mechanism for institutional execution that covers all areas. Xi Jinping not only pointed out that “the vitality of a system lies in its execution,” but also emphasized that even good institutions, if not implemented, will become “scarecrows” or “paper tigers.” In 2019, the CPC Central Committee issued the Provisions on the Responsibility System for the Execution of CPC Intra-Party Regulations (Trial). By improving the responsibility system for execution, the Party ensures that “everyone is equal before the system and there are no exceptions in execution.” This has both strengthened the power of institutional execution and effectively curbed the phenomena of ignoring orders and prohibitions. It manifests the Party's firm determination to persist in institutional Party governance and governing the Party according to regulations, laying an institutional foundation for better shaping the image of a Marxist party governed according to regulations in the New Era.

(7) Shaping the image of an untainted and honest Marxist party using the anti-corruption struggle as a sharp weapon

Xi Jinping made the judgment that “anti-corruption is the most thorough self-revolution,” revealing the critical status of the anti-corruption struggle for the Party's self-revolution. Since the New Era, the CPC has used the anti-corruption struggle as a sharp tool for self-revolution, persisting in the integrated advancement of "not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt" (bùgǎn fǔ, bùnéng fǔ, bùxiǎng fǔ), while deepening international anti-corruption cooperation.

Regarding “not daring to be corrupt,” the Party has not only explicitly stated the requirement that “no matter who the person is, and no matter how high their position, anyone who violates Party discipline or national law will be seriously investigated and severely punished,” but has also consistently maintained a high-pressure stance against corruption. With the determination to “use strong medicine to cure a chronic disease and apply heavy penalties to settle chaos,” it has seriously investigated and dealt with violations of discipline and law, forming a powerful deterrent and cautionary effect. According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2025, disciplinary inspection and supervision organs nationwide filed 220,000 cases and disciplined 185,000 people, including 14 provincial-level cadres. The continuous high-pressure punishment of corruption not only manifests the Party's determination to “scrape the bone to treat the poison” ^[16] and achieve self-purification but also signals the CPC's iron-fisted governance of the Party, thereby shaping the image of an untainted and honest Marxist party.

Regarding “not being able to be corrupt,” the Party has continuously improved the supervision and restraint mechanisms for power by deepening the reform of the disciplinary inspection and supervision system, strengthening the linkage between higher and lower-level inspections (xúnshì xúnchá), and promoting the "power list" system. This has strengthened the rigid constraints of "not being able to be corrupt," compressed the space for corruption to grow, helped make power supervision more effective, and ensured that power operates in the light of day.

Regarding “not wanting to be corrupt,” by arming the entire Party with the Party's innovative theories, strengthening the construction of a culture of integrity, and deepening cautionary education, the Party has exerted synergistic efforts in ideological education and cultural cultivation. This addresses the problem at Its source—purifying the "original spring" and "strengthening the foundation" (zhèngběn qīngyuán, gùběn péiyuán)—and builds an ideological defense line against corruption from the root, helping to enhance the integrity awareness of Party members and cadres and strengthening their determination and resolve to "not want to be corrupt."

At the level of international anti-corruption cooperation, guided by Xi Jinping's requirements to “deepen international anti-corruption cooperation” and “increase efforts in governing cross-border corruption,” the Party has actively participated in the construction of the global anti-corruption governance system. Institutionally, it has successively issued documents such as the Notice Urging Fugitive Economic Criminals Abroad to Surrender and the Regulations on Handling Foreign-Related Cases such as Anti-Corruption Fugitive Repatriation and Asset Recovery (Trial), continuously improving the system of foreign-related anti-corruption laws and regulations. In practice, the Party has continued to deepen "Operation Sky Net," actively implemented the G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan, vigorously promoted the building of a "Clean Silk Road," and continuously expanded the "circle of friends" in international anti-corruption cooperation. This has contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the improvement of the global anti-corruption governance system. The aforementioned measures manifest the CPC's determination to fight the "uphill battle," "protracted war," and "total war" against corruption, helping to lay a solid foundation for better shaping the image of an untainted and honest Marxist party in the New Era.

III. The How: The Path to Deepening the Image-Shaping of a Marxist Party from the Perspective of Self-Revolution in the New Era

On the new journey, the changes unseen in a century are accelerating. Strategic opportunities and risks/challenges coexist, placing higher requirements on the CPC's own building and image-shaping. There is an urgent need to take the resolution of the unique challenges facing a large party as the primary grasp, the telling of the story of the CPC's self-revolution in the New Era as the focus, and the use of diverse communication platforms as important means to further shape the image of a Marxist party, providing a strong guarantee for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.

(1) Shaping the image of the Marxist party by taking the solution of unique difficulties facing a large party as the primary focus

Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Our Party is the largest party in the world. To be large, it must look the part ^[17]; yet being large also brings unique difficulties." Here, "looking the part" corresponds to the shaping of the Party's image, while "unique difficulties" focuses on the challenges inherent to a large party. Solving these unique difficulties is an important handle for further shaping the image of a Marxist party. Xi Jinping has not only made the judgment that "solving the unique difficulties of a large party will inevitably be a long and arduous process," but has also issued the requirement that "comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is always on the road, and the Party's self-revolution is always on the road." This reflects the idea that self-revolution is the only path to solving the unique difficulties of a large party and provides practical guidance for doing so. Under the vision of self-revolution in the New Era, the shaping of a Marxist party’s image ultimately comes down to establishing an image through practice and winning recognition through results. The effectiveness of the Party's self-revolution is related to the Party's image and its standing in the hearts of the masses. On the new journey of the New Era, the process of the Communist Party of China (CPC) continuously carrying out self-revolution is both a process of solving the unique difficulties of a large party and a process of further shaping the image of a Marxist party. Therefore, it is necessary to follow Xi Jinping's requirement to "always maintain sobriety and firmness in solving the unique difficulties of a large party." We must take the "Six How-Tos" ^[18] as concrete actions to improve the effectiveness of the Party's self-revolution and further shape the image of the Marxist party. These include: "how to always remain true to our original aspiration and founding mission," "how to always achieve unity in thought, will, and action," "how to always possess strong governing capacity and leadership skills," "how to always maintain a spirit of entrepreneurship," "how to always be able to discover and solve our own problems in a timely manner," and "how to always maintain a clean and upright political ecosystem."

1. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always remain true to our original aspiration and founding mission" through self-revolution.

Always upholding the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation is an eternal theme of strengthening Party building. Since the start of the New Era, facing problems such as wavering ideals and convictions and the fading of the sense of purpose ^[19]—issues that violate the original aspiration and mission—the CPC has taken proactive measures. From the "Stay True to Our Original Aspiration and Founding Mission" ^[20] thematic education campaign in 2019, to the proposal at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee to establish a permanent system for this purpose, to the report of the 20th CPC National Congress placing "remaining true to our original aspiration and founding mission" at the head of the "Three Musts" ^[21], the Party has fully demonstrated the political consciousness and historical initiative of a century-old party. On the new journey, we must continue to follow Xi Jinping’s requirement that "we must uphold the original aspiration of our founding days and uphold the Party’s ideals, convictions, and purpose." We should further utilize concentrated study and education as a major path for the Party to promote self-revolution; persist in the integration of "studying, thinking, and applying" and the unity of "knowing, believing, and doing" to transform theoretical study into a conscious action for fulfilling our mission; further improve the system of institutional norms for self-revolution to provide institutional safeguards; and further strengthen the supervision and rectification of prominent problems that violate the original aspiration, transforming the results of rectification into a lasting force. Only in this way can we demonstrate a people-centered sentiment in practice, gradually win the people’s trust, and build the Party into a Marxist party that is sincerely supported by the people.

2. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always achieve unity in thought, will, and action" through self-revolution.

As the world's largest Marxist governing party, whether the CPC can ensure a high degree of centralization and unity based on a common ideological and theoretical foundation concerns not only the Party’s cohesion and combat effectiveness, but also the success or failure of the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. Faced with new circumstances such as the continuous expansion of the Party's scale and the increasing diversification of the membership, Xi Jinping issued a warning: "As the scale of the Party grows larger, some people are prone to forming 'small mountaintops,' 'small circles,' and 'small cliques' ^[22]. Problems like 'the tail being too big to wag' ^[23] and acting on one’s own authority are likely to occur, undermining the Party’s solidarity and unity." This warning identifies the nodes affecting the "Three Unities" and provides practical guidance for breaking through these problems via self-revolution. On the new journey, we must, on the one hand, take the unity of thought as the basis for political and operational unity, persisting in using the Party's innovative theories to "congeal the soul." On the other hand, we must profoundly grasp the historical significance of the Two Establishments and further strengthen the political resolve to enhance the "Four Consciousnesses," firm up the "Four Confidences," and achieve the Two Upholds. This ensures the entire Party is of one mind ideologically, one direction politically, and one step operationally, building the Party into a Marxist party that always grasps and leads the times.

3. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always possess strong governing capacity and leadership skills" through self-revolution.

In his speech at the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping explicitly pointed out prominent problems and severe challenges facing the Party’s long-term governance, such as the "objective existence of mental inertia and behavioral sluggishness," the tendency for "old concepts, old routines, and old methods to persist as habits," and the "uneven quality of cadres." This accurately identified the crux of the governing capacity problem and provided a policy direction for improvement. To implement the spirit of Xi Jinping’s speech, we must, on the one hand, deeply advance the Party’s self-revolution, continuously improving the levels of scientific, democratic, and law-based governance by innovating and improving leadership and governing styles. On the other hand, we must strictly adhere to the requirements of the "Eight Skills" and "Seven Capabilities" ^[24] proposed by the Party Central Committee. We must build a solid ideological foundation through the study of the Party's innovative theories and strengthen organizational safeguards by improving the system for selecting and appointing personnel. Efforts should be focused on enhancing key skills of members and cadres—such as learning, political leadership, and reform and innovation—and improving important capacities such as political capability, investigative research, and scientific decision-making. We must gradually form a level of governance and leadership adapted to Chinese-path modernization, building the Party into a long-term governing Marxist party.

4. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always maintain a spirit of entrepreneurship" through self-revolution.

The reason the CPC has been able to lead the people to great achievements that will shine in the annals of history is "inseparable from the important role of strong spiritual power." Throughout its century of struggle, the CPC not only formed the Great Founding Spirit of the Party but also developed a "spiritual lineage" ^[25] with the founding spirit as its source, including the Long March spirit, the "Two Bombs, One Star" spirit, the Reform and Opening-up spirit, and the Poverty Alleviation spirit. These reflect the essential characteristics of our Party’s entrepreneurial state and provide powerful spiritual momentum for the Party to continue its brilliance. On the new journey, facing the risk that cadres may develop a desire for ease and pleasure in an environment free from war and turmoil, leading to flagging morale and a lack of initiative, we must further implement Xi Jinping's requirement: "We must always maintain the spirit of hard struggle and proactive endeavor, dare to struggle, be good at struggling, and have the courage to take responsibility." Only by advancing self-revolution simultaneously at the theoretical and practical levels can we eliminate the chronic illness of "mental slackness." Theoretically, we must study and implement Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on the Party's self-revolution—especially the new ideas and propositions in the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China—to strengthen the "root-strengthening and soul-nourishing" function of theoretical armament. Practically, we must adhere to the principle of "unity of knowledge and action, working with practical results, and being a man of action," allowing cadres to be tempered in the front lines and through major tasks to maintain a high-spirited state of progress, building the Party into a vibrant Marxist party.

5. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always be able to discover and solve our own problems in a timely manner" through self-revolution.

Reviewing the Party's century-long struggle, the CPC has always used the spirit of self-revolution to remove harmful elements from its body, ensuring it moves in the right direction. Entering the New Era, the Party has used institutional and rule-based governance as a handle, issuing a series of documents such as the Regulations of the CPC on Accountability, the Regulations of the CPC on Internal Supervision, and the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening Supervision over "Top Leaders" and Leadership Teams. These have effectively filled gaps in the internal supervision system and provided institutional safeguards for discovering problems. For the new journey, we must take Xi Jinping's requirement as our guide: "We must persist in combining the Party's self-supervision with people's supervision, promote the coordination of various types of supervision, and improve a unified, comprehensive, authoritative, and efficient supervision system under the Party’s leadership." This requires improving the mechanism for coordination between internal and external supervision; perfecting the system that combines self-discipline with social constraints; and establishing a routine mechanism for problem discovery and rectification to ensure problems are handled early, building the Party into a Marxist party that has the courage to correct its mistakes.

6. Resolving the large-party difficulty of "how to always maintain a clean and upright political ecosystem" through self-revolution.

Purifying the internal political ecosystem is both an inherent requirement of the "Great Struggle" and "Great Project" ^[26] and an important magic weapon for the CPC to maintain its nature and purpose, ensuring the Party "does not change its quality, color, or flavor." Since the New Era began, Xi Jinping has treated the creation of a good political ecosystem as a fundamental and routine task of the Party’s political building, leading the Party to achieve significant results. However, he also soberly realizes that problems such as nepotism, cliquism, anonymous false accusations, and feigning compliance ^[27] still exist to varying degrees, seriously affecting the Party's image and prestige. In view of this, he proposed the requirement to "always maintain the firm consciousness of turning the blade inward." Implementing this means further strengthening education on ideals and convictions during self-revolution to ensure cadres can resist risks and temptations. We must strictly enforce political discipline and rules, normalize internal political life, and cultivate a healthy internal political culture, thereby building the Party into a Marxist party that can withstand any storm or test.

(2) Shaping the image of the Marxist party by focusing on telling the story of the CPC’s self-revolution in the New Era

Xi Jinping has emphasized: "Being able to tell stories and telling them well is very important." Telling the story of the CPC’s self-revolution helps reveal why the Party remains youthful despite the storms it has weathered and presents the spiritual character of a Marxist party, providing strong support for its image.

On the one hand, telling this story requires focusing on the theoretical innovations and practical achievements of the New Era, mining them for narrative resources. Dimensionally, we should use the "identifying discourse" ^[28] proposed by Xi Jinping to enrich the narrative. For example...

Through the discourse of the "Four Selfs" ^[29], we must profoundly analyze the scientific connotation of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era, clarifying how self-revolution serves as the internal driving force for the Party to maintain its advanced nature and purity. Centering on discourses such as "self-revolution is the second answer for our Party to escape the historical cycle" ^[30], and integrating the centennial practice of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) self-revolution, we must explain the "secret recipe" for why the CPC remains full of youthful vigor despite the hardships it has endured. Based on the discourse that "our Party has no special interests of its own other than the interests of the state, the nation, and the people," we must clarify that adhering to the people-centered development philosophy and the value position of putting the people first is the CPC's path to success. At the practical dimension, it is necessary to base our efforts on the remarkable achievements of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, mining the vivid narrative materials contained therein regarding self-revolution to enhance the pertinence and infectiousness of telling the story of self-revolution well. For example, based on Xi Jinping’s assessment that "the anti-corruption struggle has achieved an overwhelming victory and has been fully consolidated," we should tell the story of the CPC’s resolute fight against corruption. Based on the practical progress in the New Era of improving the system of internal Party regulations and perfecting the system for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, we should tell the story of the CPC’s institutional Party governance. Based on the effectiveness of the CPC’s use of the "Four Forms" ^[31] of supervision and discipline enforcement and the implementation of "look-back" inspections ^[32] in the New Era, we should tell the story of the CPC’s strengthening of supervision and discipline enforcement. By applying force from both the theoretical and practical dimensions, we can continuously improve the explanatory power and persuasiveness of telling the story of the CPC’s self-revolution in the New Era.

On the other hand, telling the story of the CPC’s self-revolution in the New Era requires continuous innovation in external discourse expression. Whether we can tell this story well depends crucially on whether the audience can listen and understand. Following Xi Jinping’s requirement to "be adept at refining signature concepts and creating new concepts, new categories, and new expressions that are easily understood and accepted by the international community," we must closely follow the common concerns of the international community. We should seek the "greatest common denominator" between the national and the global, transforming the CPC’s theoretical innovations and practical experiences in self-revolution into expressions that resonate globally; this serves as a beneficial attempt at telling the story of the CPC’s self-revolution. For example, centering on global issues such as anti-corruption, and based on the remarkable achievements the CPC has made in the anti-corruption struggle in the New Era—particularly the practical results of promoting international anti-corruption cooperation and constructing transnational governance mechanisms—we can use expressions easily understood and accepted by the international community to narrate how the CPC carries out international fugitives' repatriation and asset recovery. This allows the international community to intuitively perceive the CPC’s determination to advance self-revolution, presenting the world with the image of a Marxist party courageous enough to conduct self-revolution.

(III) Utilizing Diverse Communication Platforms as an Important Means to Further Shape the Image of a Marxist Party

Utilizing diverse communication platforms to display the theoretical and practical achievements of self-revolution is an inherent requirement for shaping the image of a Marxist party within the perspective of self-revolution in the New Era. Diverse communication platforms can not only effectively break through the temporal and spatial limitations of traditional communication—enhancing the breadth, depth, and effectiveness of communicating the CPC’s self-revolution—but can also bridge the gap by systematically displaying the Party's self-revolutionary achievements to effectively increase the understanding, identification, and support of domestic and foreign audiences. By utilizing the three major communication channels of home-field diplomacy platforms, new media platforms, and academic exchange platforms, we can fully demonstrate the theoretical innovations and practical achievements of the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era, promoting the formation of a collaborative, efficient communication pattern that links internal and external efforts.

1. Making good use of home-field diplomacy platforms is one of the important means to further shape the image of a Marxist party. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the leadership of the Party, China has successfully hosted a series of home-field diplomatic activities using major international conferences and summit forums as vehicles. Home-field diplomacy in the New Era is not only an important stage for China to engage in dialogue with the world and discuss global governance, but also an important window for displaying the CPC's experience and practice in governing the country, providing a powerful boost for shaping its image as a major party. For example, at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2023, the concept of "building a road of integrity" proposed by Xi Jinping vividly displayed the image of a Marxist party courageous in self-revolution and effectively enhanced the international influence of the CPC’s self-revolution. By further leveraging the advantages of the "home field," we can set themes closely related to the CPC’s self-revolution—such as party governance and the promotion of clean government—as key issues on the agenda, better showcasing the theoretical and practical achievements of the CPC’s self-revolution to the international community.

2. Making good use of new media platforms is the second important means to further shape the image of a Marxist party. Xi Jinping not only attaches great importance to new media platforms but also regards "building new types of communication platforms, developing new types of mainstream media, and expanding the influence of mainstream values" as an important means to "allow the voice of the Party to be transmitted further, more widely, and more deeply." In an era of rapid information technology development, if we can coordinately promote the construction of mainstream media and the application of new media, we can better promote the quality and efficiency of the communication of the Party’s image. On the one hand, we must further promote the digital and intelligent transformation of mainstream media, using digital intelligence technology to optimize the production of communication content, innovate the forms of presentation, and precisely match audience needs. While strengthening the leading power, transmission power, and influence of mainstream public opinion, this effectively expands the radius and coverage of the Party's voice. On the other hand, based on the interactive, instantaneous, and global characteristics of new media platforms, we must innovate the way the Party’s self-revolution is presented. For example, we can use short videos to interpret the Party’s self-revolution policies, use animation to present typical anti-corruption cases, and use visualized data reports and charts to intuitively demonstrate the effectiveness of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era. In doing so, we transform the abstract theory of the Party’s self-revolution into concrete scenes, the specific practical achievements into narrative materials, and the political discourse into popularized expressions. This makes the image of the CPC as a Marxist party courageous in self-revolution more visible, perceptible, and credible, allowing domestic and foreign audiences to more intuitively perceive the determination and effectiveness of the CPC in advancing self-revolution.

3. Making good use of academic exchange platforms is the third important means to further shape the image of a Marxist party. By strengthening academic exchanges and interactions between Chinese and foreign scholars, we can guide the international academic community toward a correct understanding of the rich connotation and world significance of the CPC’s self-revolution. In this process, we must both strengthen the integration of domestic academic resources and expand the space for international academic exchange, forming a communication pattern of internal-external linkage and two-way interaction. On the one hand, we should encourage domestic academic institutions, the Party school system, and university research forces to form a synergy, continuously innovating and enriching the research results on the Party’s self-revolution, and promoting the construction of a more persuasive discourse system of self-revolution to deepen the understanding of the CPC’s self-revolution among the domestic and foreign public. On the other hand, we must take the initiative to speak out using platforms such as international academic conferences and high-end think-tank forums. For example, by jointly conducting comparative studies on world party governance with well-known foreign think tanks, we can systematically explain the rich connotation and world significance of the CPC’s self-revolution, promoting the transformation of the CPC’s self-revolution theory and practice from "Chinese experience" to "world consensus."

In summary, between the Party’s self-revolution in the New Era and the shaping of the Marxist party image, there exists an organic whole characterized by theoretical isomorphism, practical embedding, and value symbiosis. On the new journey, only by persisting with the tenacity and perseverance of "always being on the road," continuously advancing the Party's self-revolution, and persistently shaping a realistic, perceptible, three-dimensional, and comprehensive image of a Marxist party—striving to build the Party into a Marxist governing party that "always walks in the forefront of the times, is wholeheartedly supported by the people, is courageous in self-revolution, stands the test of various storms, and is full of youthful vigor"—can we provide a strong support for comprehensively promoting the construction of a great power and the cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.