Xu Lin:

Thank you, Mr. Yuan. Next, Mr. Shu Qiming will brief you about China's political party system and the united front.

Shu Qiming:

Ladies and gentlemen, next, I will present a brief introduction to China's political party system and the united front.

The system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is part of the basic political system of China. Jointly created by the CPC, the Chinese people, other political parties, and public figures without party affiliation, it is a new type of party system rooted in China. The Decision draws up plans in the following aspects: implementing the principles of long-term coexistence, mutual oversight, sincerity, and sharing weal and woe; strengthening the construction of the socialist political party system with Chinese characteristics; and improving the mechanism of mutual oversight, especially the CPC's willingness to accept the oversight by other political parties, and the mechanism for carrying out the special oversight on the implementation of major policy decisions and plans. 

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a great accomplishment of the CPC, which combines the Marxist-Leninist theories on united front, political party and democracy with China's actual conditions. It is a great creation in the political system achieved by the CPC together with other political parties, public figures without party affiliation, people's organizations, and public figures from all ethnic groups and all sectors of society. It is an important component of China's system for governance and an institutional design with Chinese characteristics. For the past 70 years, under the leadership of the CPC, the CPPCC has played a very important role in different historical periods, including the founding of the People's Republic of China, socialist revolution, construction and reform. The Decision emphasizes the need to give full play to the CPPCC as a political organization and a form of democracy, improve its level of political consultation, democratic oversight, and participation in the deliberation and administration of state affairs, and better build consensus. The Decision puts forward the following measures: improving the role of the CPPCC as a specialist consultative body, enriching the forms of consultation, and promoting sound rules for consultation.

Socialist consultative democracy, as an important way of realizing Party leadership, is unique to China's socialist democracy. The Decision puts forward plans in the following aspects: upholding socialist consultative democracy, building a complete consultative democracy system featuring appropriate procedures, improving the mechanism of conducting consultations before and during the implementation of policy decisions, and enriching institutionalized practices where the people get to discuss their own affairs.

The united front is an important mechanism to ensure the success of the Party's mission. Maintaining public support, which is key to achieving the goals of the cause of the Party and the people, is a political task of prime importance. The Decision emphasizes the need to consolidate and develop the broadest possible patriotic united front, uphold the united front work, seek consistency while respecting diversity, improve the policies to give more consideration to the interests of our allies, and promote harmony in relations between political parties, between ethnic groups, between religions, between social strata, and between our compatriots at home and abroad.