Xi Jinping: Full and Rigorous Governance over the Party Explores a Successful Path to Escaping the Historical Cycle Through the Party's Self-Revolution

This year marks the tenth year since the 18th Party National Congress. Over these ten years of "honing a single sword," ^[1] the Party Central Committee has incorporated comprehensively and strictly governing the Party into the Four Comprehensives strategic layout. With unprecedented courage and resolve, we have advanced the improvement of Party conduct, the promotion of clean government, and the anti-corruption struggle. We have halted unhealthy tendencies that had gone unchecked for years, resolved chronic ailments that remained unaddressed for a long time, and eliminated serious internal risks within the Party, the state, and the military. The situation of "lax, loose, and soft" governance of the Party has been fundamentally reversed. Without the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, we would not have the highly united, strong, and powerful Communist Party of China we see today; we would not have the relationship between the Party and the masses where "ten thousand hearts beat as one" like a "fortress of sincere unity" ^[2] in the face of difficulties; and it would be impossible to gain the historical initiative amidst the shifting winds and clouds of the international arena. Since the 18th Party National Congress, comprehensively and strictly governing the Party has achieved historical and pioneering successes, exerting an all-encompassing and profound influence. We must persist in this over the long term and continue to move forward.

The ancients said: "Let one's own character be established and all under heaven will be established; let one's own person be governed and all under heaven will be governed." ^[3] Since the 18th Party National Congress, I have frequently spoken about the issue of escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall. ^[4] This is a major issue concerning the Party's eternal cause, its life and death, and the rise or fall of our country's socialist system. How can we escape this historical cycle? The Party has always been reflecting upon and exploring this. Comrade Mao Zedong gave the first answer in a Loess Plateau cave in Yan'an: "let the people supervise the government." Following a century of struggle, and especially through new practices since the 18th Party National Congress, the Party has provided a second answer: self-revolution. Self-revolution means "supplementing calcium to strengthen the bones," "cleansing toxins and killing bacteria," "the brave man cutting off his own wrist," ^[5] and "removing corruption to allow new flesh to grow." It means constantly clearing away the viruses eroding the Party's healthy organism and improving our own immunity to prevent a situation where "when the man dies, his policies perish." ^[6] Having the courage for self-revolution and accepting the people’s supervision are internally consistent; both stem from the Party's original aspiration and founding mission. For a hundred years, the Party has relied externally on developing people's democracy and accepting public supervision, and internally on comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and advancing self-revolution. We have had the courage to uphold truth and correct errors, and the courage to "turn the blade inward" and "scrape the bone to remove the poison." ^[7] This has guaranteed the Party's enduring vitality and its continuous growth. Only through "selflessness for the sake of the people" ^[8] and by always representing the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of people can we examine ourselves in the spirit of thorough self-revolution, constantly reflect on our faults, and resolutely struggle against all factors that damage the Party's advanced nature and purity. Only thus can we avoid the "hunting" ^[9] and erosion of all interest groups, power cliques, and privileged strata, and "take the knife" to those within the Party who have become associates of these groups, thereby forever preserving the Party’s vitality. Only thus can we ensure the people trust and support us, sincerely help us correct our shortcomings, and firmly follow the Party in our shared struggle. Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is the great practice of the Party's self-revolution in the New Era, opening a new frontier for the self-revolution of a century-old major party.

First, we must persist in taking the Party's political building as the overarching principle to uphold the fundamental political direction of self-revolution. History has repeatedly proven that the Party's unity and uniformity are its lifeblood, and the strong and powerful leadership of the Party Central Committee is our fundamental guarantee for overcoming all difficulties and risks. The Party's unity and uniformity are, first and foremost, political. We persist in putting the Party's political building first, taking the maintenance of the Party Central Committee’s authority and centralized, unified leadership as the highest political principle. We integrate the Party's leadership into all fields, aspects, and links of Party governance and state administration. We strictly enforce political discipline and rules, strengthen political supervision, deepen political inspections, and resolutely prevent and govern the "seven types of misconduct." ^[10] We resolutely eliminate "two-faced people" and "two-faced factions" who feign compliance with the Party Central Committee while acting in opposition, and we constantly purify the political ecosystem within the Party. Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, we have fundamentally reversed the weakening of Party leadership and the dilution of the Party concept. The "Four Consciousnesses" ^[11] of the whole Party have been continuously strengthened, the "Four Confidences" ^[12] have become increasingly firm, and the Two Upholds have become more conscious.

Second, we must persist in taking ideological building as the Party's foundational construction to temper the sharp ideological weapon of self-revolution. We persist in using the faith that "revolutionary ideals soar higher than the heavens" to strengthen our foundations and consolidate our soul. We arm the whole Party and educate the people with the Party's innovative theories, requiring the entire Party to keep in mind the fundamental questions of what the Communist Party of China is and what its purpose is. We must see clearly from the Party's centenary struggle why we were successful in the past and understand how we can continue to succeed in the future. We have successively carried out the educational practice of the mass line, the "Three Stricts and Three Honests" ^[13] education, the "Two Studies and One Action" ^[14] learning and education, the "Staying True to Our Original Aspiration and Founding Mission" theme education, and Party history learning and education. We have promoted the institutionalization and normalization of learning and education, strengthened the construction and management of ideological fronts, and constantly removed impurities, eliminated viruses, and prevented pollution, tempering the "steel and iron bones" of the Communists' faith and belief. Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, the long-standing chaos in ideology and values in some fields has been cleared at its source. The whole Party consciously uses the Party's innovative theories to nourish its original aspiration and guide its mission, enhancing the political responsibility of sharing the Party's concerns, dedicating oneself to the country, and benefiting the people. We have stood firm through the trials of wind and waves, remained composed before the lure of "hunting," and maintained our political character in complex and severe struggles.

Third, we must resolutely implement the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations and rectify conduct through strict discipline, enriching the effective paths of self-revolution. Party nature, Party conduct, and Party discipline form an organic whole: Party nature is the foundation, Party conduct is the manifestation, and Party discipline is the guarantee. Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era began with the implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations. The Party Central Committee took the lead by setting an example, promoting glorious traditions such as modesty, prudence, and hard work, and cultivating a new atmosphere of seeking truth from facts and integrity. We have put discipline and rules at the forefront, "catching problems early and when they are small" to nip them in the bud. We have corrected faults one by one, broken through problems one after another, and persisted year after year, resolutely correcting the Four Winds and breaking down privileged thinking and behavior. We have resolutely rectified corruption and unhealthy tendencies occurring right at the doorsteps of the masses. Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, the situation of lax discipline and superficial conduct has changed significantly. An atmosphere of "true management, strict management, and long-term management" has basically formed. The conduct of the Party and government has taken on a completely new look, while social and folk customs continue to improve, reshaping the Party's image in the hearts of the people.

Fourth, we must persist in punishing corruption and evil with the force of a thunderbolt, fighting the "tough battle" and "enduring battle" of self-revolution. The ancients said: "The ruin of a state begins with the wickedness of its officials." ^[15] Corruption is the issue most likely to subvert a regime, and anti-corruption is the most thorough form of self-revolution. With the mission and responsibility of "offending a few thousand to not fail 1.4 billion," we have treated the disease and rectified the chaos. We have persisted with "no off-limits zones, full coverage, and zero tolerance." We have maintained a focus on heavy containment, strong pressure, and long-term deterrence. We have insisted on investigating both those who take bribes and those who give them, ensuring every case is investigated and every instance of corruption is punished. We have firmly, steadily, and effectively handled a number of extremely significant cases since the founding of the People’s Republic. By simultaneously "striking tigers," "swatting flies," and "hunting foxes," ^[16] we have resolutely eliminated the greatest danger of corruption and won the fight against corruption—a struggle we simply cannot afford to lose. Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, the anti-corruption struggle has achieved an overwhelming victory and been fully consolidated. The deterrence of "not daring to be corrupt" has been fully manifested, the cage of "not being able to be corrupt" is being woven ever tighter, and the conscious desire of "not wanting to be corrupt" has been significantly strengthened. No other party or country in the world today can punish corruption on such a large scale, with such great intensity, and so relentlessly. We have successfully blazed a trail for anti-corruption by relying on institutional and legal advantages, writing a new chapter in the history of the human struggle against corruption.

Fifth, we must persist in enhancing the political functions and organizational power of Party organizations, forging a contingent of officials who are both courageous and skilled in struggle and brave in self-revolution. We implement the Party’s organizational line for the New Era and the standards for good officials, focusing on enhancing organizational power and strengthening political functions. We have perfected an organizational system that connects the upper and lower levels and executes effectively, establishing a clear orientation for strengthening grassroots construction and promoting the overall progress and strength of Party organizations at all levels. We summarize and apply the great experience of struggle accumulated by the Party, educating and guiding Party members and officials to carry forward the spirit of struggle, master struggle strategies, and develop struggle skills. They have been tested on the front lines of achieving a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the decisive battle against poverty, the fight against the epidemic, flood control and disaster relief, and responding to external suppression and containment. Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, the problems of some grassroots Party organizations becoming "hollowed out, weakened, or marginalized" have been resolutely corrected. The "nice guys" who cherish their own feathers, the "slippery officials" who shirk responsibility, and the "muddlers" who just try to get by ^[17] have lost their market. The role of the vast number of grassroots Party organizations as "fighting fortresses" and the role of Party members as vanguard models have been fully demonstrated, and the Party's political and organizational advantages are being continuously transformed into advantages for victory.

Sixth, we must persist in constructing a system of institutional norms for self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement to provide the institutional guarantee for advancing the great self-revolution. We have improved the supervision systems of the Party and the state, with intra-Party supervision taking the lead. We have utilized the "sharp sword" of inspections and the "probe" of dispatched supervision. ^[18] We have advanced reforms of the systems for discipline inspection, national supervision, and audit and statistical supervision, promoting the integration and coordination of various forms of supervision to achieve full coverage of intra-Party supervision and supervision of public officials. We persist in institutional Party governance and governing the Party according to regulations, improving regulations on Party organization, leadership, self-construction, and supervision, ensuring that the system has "teeth" and is "electrified." ^[19] Through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, we have formed a relatively complete system of intra-Party regulations and constructed a centralized, comprehensive, authoritative, and efficient supervision system under the Party’s unified leadership. We have fostered a favorable atmosphere of respecting and abiding by the system, promoting the maturity and stabilization of systems in all aspects, and forming the unique advantages of the "governance of the Communist Party of China" and the "governance of China."

Since the 18th Party National Congress, we have inherited and developed Marxist theory on party building, summarized and applied the historical experience of the Party's centenary struggle, and deeply advanced innovations in the practice, theory, and institutions of Party governance. Our systematic understanding of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build it has reached new heights.

(1) Persist in the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. Comprehensively and strictly governing the Party must be treated as a major and serious political task, advanced solidly and orderly under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. The Party's overall leadership must be implemented throughout all work of Party governance to ensure the Party firmly grasps the initiative in the anti-corruption struggle and that the "Red Land" ^[20] never changes its color by ensuring the Party never changes its nature.

(2) Persist in the Party managing the Party and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, leading the great social revolution through the great self-revolution. In promoting comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, we must exert both a role of political guarantee and a role of political leadership. We must integrate the strategic policy of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party into the entire process of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and all aspects of Party building, continuously enhancing the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization power to move the great cause forward.

(3) Persist in taking the Party's political building as the overarching principle, ensuring the entire Party maintains a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in its political stance, direction, principles, and path. We must take the firming of ideals and convictions as the foundation, making political life within the Party serious and nourishing the political ecosystem. We must urge Party members and officials to manifest their loyalty to the Party through concrete actions in implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, ensuring the Party's theories, lines, principles, and policies take root and achieve results.

(4) Persist in the "strict" keynote without wavering, making discipline building more political, contemporary, and targeted. We must enforce political discipline to drive all other disciplines to be comprehensively and strictly enforced to the end. We must insist that discipline is stricter than the law, and that the enforcement of discipline and law are integrated. We must deepen the application of the "Four Forms" ^[21] of oversight and discipline, ensuring discipline is enforced strictly and every violation is investigated, using strict discipline to ensure the whole Party has consistent goals, unity, and pace.

(5) Persist in carrying forward the "nail-driving spirit" ^[22] in strengthening conduct building, using excellent Party conduct to drive social and folk customs toward improvement. We must carry forward the Party's fine traditions and persistently implement the Eight-Point Regulations, working on consistency, longevity, strictness, pragmatism, depth, and detail. We must simultaneously rectify the Four Winds and establish new trends, resolutely uprooting the hotbed of conduct that breeds corruption and correcting problems of formalism and bureaucratism, creating new great achievements with good conduct and a good image.

(6) Persist in punishing corruption with a zero-tolerance attitude and unswervingly follow the path of anti-corruption with Chinese characteristics. We must remember that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is always a work in progress; the "hand" that severely punishes corruption must never be relaxed. We must persist in the integrated advancement of "not daring, not being able, and not wanting to be corrupt." We must apply the combined force of punitive deterrence, institutional constraints, and raising awareness. We must punish corruption through legal thinking and legal methods, and govern the Party with the concepts of systemic governance and treating both symptoms and root causes, achieving integrity among officials, a clean government, and clear politics.

(7) Persist in rectifying all corruption and unhealthy tendencies that harm the interests of the masses, so the people feel that fairness and justice are right by their side. We must implement the people-centered development philosophy, responding to the thoughts, concerns, worries, and expectations of the masses. We must promote the extension of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party to the grassroots levels, resolving prominent problems that the masses report strongly, and consolidating the Party’s governing foundation through the actual results of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.

(8) Persist in seizing the "key minority" ^[23] to lead by example, tightening and solidifying the political responsibility for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. We must implement the responsibility of leading officials for Party governance, insisting that "leaders are grasped, and leaders grasp." We start from the Party Central Committee and set strict requirements beginning with senior officials, with one level setting an example for the next and one level leading the next. With selflessness and fearlessness, a clear-cut stand, and the courage and skill to struggle, we must push the implementation of primary responsibility and supervisory responsibility to the end, consolidating and developing a favorable situation where the whole Party works together.

(9) Persist in improving the supervision systems of the Party and the state, forming a combined force for supervision that is comprehensive, normalized, and effective over the long term. We must rely on strengthening the Party's self-supervision and the people's supervision to promote the Party's self-revolution. We must build a mechanism where intra-Party supervision takes the lead and various types of supervision are integrated and coordinated, strengthening the constraint and supervision of the exercise of power and better transforming the advantages of the supervision system into governance efficiency.