Press briefing: Party building, self-governance

Speakers:
Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, minister of Supervision, and chief of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention

Qi Yu, vice minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee

Chairperson:
Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the 19th National Congress of the CPC and deputy director of the State Council Information Office

Date:
Oct. 19, 2017

The press center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 19, 2017. Yang Xiaodu (C), deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Qi Yu (R), deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the press conference. [Photo/Xinhua]

Guo Weimin:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. During the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), six press conferences will be held. My name is Guo Weimin. I'm the spokesperson for the Congress, and the vice minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO). We welcome you to attend these press conferences. If you need any help with your reporting, please feel free to contact me, any member of my team or the press center.

Today, we are holding the first of the six press conferences. Present here are: Mr. Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Minister of Supervision, and the chief of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention, and Mr. Qi Yu, who is the vice minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

They will introduce the work related to strengthening Party building and comprehensively practicing strict Party self-governance. They will also answer your questions.

Now, let's welcome Mr. Qi Yu to introduce the work for strengthening Party building.

Qi Yu:

I am glad to meet our media friends. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened successfully yesterday. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a report on the historic changes that have taken place in the cause of our Party and our nation in the past five years.

General Secretary Xi Jinping made clear in the report that "we have achieved remarkable outcomes in ensuring full and strict governance over the Party," which summarized and recognized the achievements in Party building and the organizational work. Now, I would like to brief you on these aspects of our work over the past five years.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has incorporated exercising strict governance over the Party into the Four-Pronged Strategy, and has strengthened the Party leadership and Party building. This has brought about a historic, structural and fundamental shift from a lax, weak and slack approach to a strict, stringent and tough approach to Party self-supervision and self-governance. The CPC's organizational work has firmly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's thoughts on Party building, and the requirements for exercising strict governance over the Party. It has focused on the main responsibilities and tasks, stayed problem-oriented and stressed the need to take up these responsibilities with marked progress in the following areas:

First, by giving priority to ideological and political education, we have greatly elevated the political and theoretical level of Party officials and further strengthened their commitment to the Party. We have made it a priority to study and implement the guiding principles of the policy addresses of General Secretary Xi Jinping and his new vision, concepts and thoughts about the governance of China. We have guided Party officials to build up their confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Through these efforts, we are calling on all Party officials to enhance their political integrity, develop a better understanding of the general picture, follow the core leadership of the Central Committee, and act consistently with its policies, thus closely following the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in terms of thinking, political stand and actions.

Under the overall arrangement of the CPC Central Committee, activities have been undertaken to heighten awareness of and thus implement the CPC's mass line. We have implemented educational programs on the "Three Guidelines for Ethical Behavior and the Three Basic Rules of Conduct" and have launched Party-wide education in regard to the "Two Studies, One Action." Intraparty education has been expanded from "the essential few" to the vast number of Party members, and developed from concentrated to regular education. Through involvement in these three programs, Party officials have experienced intensive political education, and a number of longstanding problems have also been addressed. We have also organized regular Party activities and strengthened political and cultural development within the Party. The political performance of the Party has undergone fundamental and profound changes.

At the same time, Party organizations at various levels have launched training courses for accurately targeted officials and have thus constantly improved their leadership and professional competence. Over the past five years, some 100 million officials from all levels have received full-time training.

Second, we have selected good people for Party work and made important progress in building the ranks of key high-caliber officials. We have carefully implemented the standard for good officials under the new circumstances by revising and promulgating regulations for their appointment, refining the way officials are recommended democratically, improving the way they are elected on a competitive basis, improving the system for assessing and evaluating performance, ensuring that officials are not selected simply based on votes received, overall scores, GDP and age, thus establishing the correct approach in selection and appointment. All this has made it possible for a large number of loyal, honest and pragmatic officials willing to take up the responsibility to become leading officials.

We have also strengthened the leading and guiding role of Party organizations. In order to prevent officials with a poor record of conduct from being promoted, we have ensured that when an official is being considered for advancement, the relevant files are carefully examined, the reports on personal matters are checked, the opinions of commissions for discipline inspection are solicited, and the complaints lodged by the masses in letters or calls with clear clues are investigated. We have also ensured that, when an official is to be promoted, his or her promotion form is signed by the chief of the Party committee and the chief of the commission for discipline inspection confirming incorruptibility and a good sense of self-discipline. During the recent election of new municipal, county and township leaderships, over 9,300 officials were not promoted due to their failure to pass these reviews.

We have formulated regulations on promoting and demoting officials and worked hard to establish a mechanism for the selection and appointment of officials, whereby competent people are promoted while incompetent ones are demoted or eliminated. So far, we have handled more than 22,000 officials at and above the county and section chief level in accordance with these regulations.

In the follow-up of the inspection tours made by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, we have sent inspection teams to check the selection and appointment of officials in all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, as well as in the central government and Party departments. In particular, in the recent elections of local leaders, we worked to give proper guidance, warned candidates on unacceptable behavior, and tried to prevent malpractice. We sent inspection teams to inspect the process of the elections on a circuit basis to ensure sound conduct for the elections of new leaders.

Third, we have tightened the governance of officials and sought to enhance the system of managing and supervising them. We have worked to nip problems in the buds and prevent them from arising. We have conducted strict routine oversight and supervision. In recent years, the organizational and personnel departments at all levels wrote to officials and issued admonishment on over 600,000 occasions.

We have established a sound system with Chinese characteristics whereby officials report their personal affairs, with a focus on their family matters and property closely linked to their exercise of power, ensuring that the results of the reviews are put to good use and problems identified are investigated. So far 1.25 million reviews have been carried out nationwide, 125,000 officials have been punished for submitting falsified reports.

We have focused on addressing prominent problems such as overstaffing, "naked" officials, falsified filing, and have regulated the business activities of relatives of Party and government officials. Preliminary achievements have been made.

We have also made efforts to give officials positive incentives. We have established a system that allows public servants below county level to be able to rise up the career ladder through either promotion in regard to their post or a rise in rank. This has benefited more than a million public servants concerned.

Fourth, to promote exercising strict governance over the Party down to grassroots Party organizations, the vigor and vitality of grassroots Party organizations and of the Party members involved has been greatly enhanced. According to the general requirement of "controlling overall size, optimizing structure, improving quality and playing the due role," we have insisted on strict procedures for new recruitment and installed a candidate's political integrity as a precondition so as to ensure the quality, structure and proper size of Party membership. Compared with 2012, the number of party members has increased by 4.32 million with an annual growth rate of 1.2 percent, which is line with our goal of managing membership growth.

Daily education and management of Party members has been strengthened, including regularly organizing "three meetings and one class" and dealing with Party members considered unqualified. Party building at the grassroots level has been promoted in a coordinated manner in different areas. We have worked continuously to straighten out weak and lax grassroots Party organizations, and the role of grassroots Party organizations in rural areas as the core leading force has been further strengthened; we have explored new ways for Party building and grassroots-level governance in neighborhoods and streets; we have strived to enhance any weakness and marginalization of the leading role of the Party and Party building in SOEs and universities. Efforts have been made to increase the coverage of Party organizations and the coverage ratio in the non-public business sector and social organizations. We have comprehensively promoted and strengthened Party building at the grassroots level.

We have worked to serve the Party's mission of poverty alleviation through our overall work in Party building. We have selected 195,000 officials from county and above-level government organs to work in poor villages as first Party chiefs so as to ensure the Party's political and organizational strength is turned into a driving force for development.

We have also improved the accountability system for Party building work and initiated appraisal of municipal and county level Party chiefs of their performance in this regard, and are gradually applying this practice to other government institutions, enterprises and universities, aimed at urging Party organizations and Party chiefs at various levels to earnestly perform their duty of governing Party affairs.

We have further deepened institutional reform for the development of talents to give more autonomy to employers of talents and remove obstacles for talent development, so as to motivate their creativity. By now, the overall size of China's talent pool has reached 175 million persons, up by 43.8 percent compared to five years ago. The contribution ratio of talents to China's economic and social development has witnessed a big increase.

We have continuously pushed forward institutional reform of the Party building work by formulating important institutions and strengthening their enforcement. Until now, the institutional reforms for Party building decided by the 18th CPC Central Committee have been basically completed.

That is what I would like to introduce so far. Thank you.

Guo Weimin:

Thank you. I now give the floor to Mr. Yang Xiaodu.

Yang Xiaodu:

Good morning. It's my pleasure to give you the following briefing.

We all witnessed the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China yesterday. At the Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered on behalf of the 18th Party Central Committee a report entitled "Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."

The report is impressive and encouraging. It won warm applause and full support from all Party members and the Chinese people. Strengthening Party leadership, advancing the great project of Party building, and exercising strict Party self-governance in every respect are important elements highlighted in the report.

Now I would like to take this opportunity to brief you on the achievements of the Party in exercising strict self-governance in every respect since the 18th National Congress and the major principles concerning this endeavor set forth in the report to the 19th National Congress. My briefing is formed of two main parts.

1. Notable progress has been made in exercising full and strict Party self-governance, and the Party has grown stronger through revolutionary tempering.

As the Chinese saying goes, it takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. Since the 18th National Congress, to strengthen the Party's ability to fulfill its historic mission, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has made exercising all-round strict Party self-governance a strategy of crucial significance. With the determination to "offend several thousand rather than disappoint the 1.3 billion Chinese people," the Central Committee has attached unprecedented importance to improving Party conduct, building integrity, and combating corruption. It has made resolute efforts to improve Party conduct, tighten discipline, fight corruption, and punish wrongdoing, and seen historic changes in Party building.

First, we have combined ideological work and institution building, and seen a marked improvement in the political atmosphere within the Party.

We have made it clear that Party leadership is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have launched activities to see Party members develop a good understanding of and act on the Party's mass line, initiated a campaign for the observance of the Three Stricts and Three Earnests (i.e. to be strict with oneself in practicing self-cultivation, using power, and exercising self-discipline; and to be earnest in one's thinking, work, and behavior) and carried out activities that require all Party members to have a solid understanding of the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's major addresses and to meet Party standards. We have worked to strengthen Party members' consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment, and enhanced their confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

We have made it a task of fundamental importance to ensure a disciplined political life within the Party. We have worked to see that the principal responsibility for governance over the Party and the oversight responsibility are fulfilled at every level, and tightened political discipline and rules, thus markedly improving the intraparty political atmosphere and the political ecosystem of the Party.

Second, we have persevered in implementing the eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, with a view to using fine Party conduct to improve social behavior.

The 18th Party Central Committee has pursued the endeavor by first addressing the misconduct most resented by the people, improving Party conduct, and ensuring implementation of the eight-point decision. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee has led by example, and the whole Party has followed with firm resolve and perseverance. Many unhealthy trends have been reversed. This is an accomplishment previously regarded by many as a mission impossible. "The eight-point decision is changing China." Conduct improvement bears testimony to the Party's progress in capacity building. Previously, people claimed that the public expenses of the banquets amounted to some 200 billion yuan, and they thought that this trend cannot be stopped. Yet, after the introduction of the "eight-point decision," the problem has been fundamentally solved.

The Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and China Central Television jointly produced a four-episode documentary series on rectifying work related to practices. It aroused a huge public interest, and attracted an on air audience of 350 million with 300 million more viewers online.

Third, we have strengthened intraparty oversight, and ensured within this term of office full coverage of disciplinary inspection, which cuts like a blade through corruption and misconduct.

We conducted 12 rounds of central discipline inspections and inspected a total of 277 Party organizations; took a "second look" at 16 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government that had been inspected earlier; and carried out flexible inspections over 4 departments at the central level. For the first time, a full coverage of disciplinary inspections was realized within one term of office. In carrying out inspections, we have coordinated the efforts of the entire Party throughout the country and addressed both the symptoms and root causes of corruption. The Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and CCTV also produced a four-episode documentary series covering the inspections, attracting a total audience of 550 million on air and 530 million online. This shows the people's full trust in and support to disciplinary inspection. It gives the general public a channel to report misbehaving officials and expose corruption cases. It also creates an opportunity for the Party and the general public to root out corruption together.

We have furthered the reform of the disciplinary inspection system, and improved procedures and institutions to ensure that a discipline inspection commission is under the leadership of both the Party committee at the same level and the discipline inspection commission at the next level up.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection dispatched 47 disciplinary inspection teams, stationed at the Party organizations of all the 139 departments subject to this form of oversight.

We have continued the reform of the national supervision system, improved the self-oversight systems of the Party and the state, and completed relevant pilot reforms in Beijing, Shanxi, and Zhejiang.

General Secretary Xi Jinping said in the report yesterday that the work should be carried out nationwide. This is our task in the next step ahead.

Fourth, we have taken comprehensive steps to tighten Party discipline and exercise stricter supervision and governance over the Party.

We have ensured that Party discipline requires more of Party members than the law codes, and a disciplinary action is taken before a legal action is needed. By conducting four forms of oversight over discipline compliance, we are able to identify problems early and correct them while they are nascent, and build layers of defense to prevent them from growing serious.

Our aim is to prevent people from making the very first mistake, because if one makes a minor mistake and no one warns him immediately as to its bad consequences, that person will not feel anxious about making bigger mistakes - and may eventually commit crimes.

We have taken a series of measures to stop people from making small mistakes in the very first place. As I said, we have been committed to ensuring that Party discipline requires Party members to go further and beyond what the law states, and a disciplinary action is taken before a legal action is needed. Why? That's because Party members are the vanguard of the times and the progressives of the nation. They must observe stricter discipline codes. They chose to join the Party, so they must receive stricter discipline codes than common citizens.

Over the past five years, discipline inspection commissions and supervision agencies across the country dealt with 2.674 million leads on discipline violations, filed 1.545 million cases, punished 1.537 million Party members, and transferred 58,000 suspects to judicial bodies. This demonstrates our commitment to the principles that discipline must be strictly enforced and, that all discipline violators must be punished, and our adherence to the practice of learning from mistakes to prevent recurrence and treating the illness to save the patient. We are serious about this. Action will definitely be taken if one dares to step across the line.

Fifth, by both "taking out tigers" and "swatting flies," we have built and consolidated an overwhelming momentum in the fight against corruption.

We have made determined efforts to eradicate interest groups that are involved in both political and economic corruption, and investigated and prosecuted serious discipline and law violations committed by Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Sun Zhengcai, Ling Jihua and others.

Cases were filed to investigate 440 Party members in leadership positions at and above the provincial and army commander level and other leading Party officials under Party Central Committee management. Among them, 43 were members or alternate members of the 18th Central Committee, and 9 were members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. More than 8,900 officials at the director-general level and 63,000 at the county and director level have also been investigated. Meanwhile, we are resolute in addressing corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps, disciplining a total of 278,000 Party members and officials working at the primary level.

Progress has also been made in hunting corrupt elements who have fled overseas and in recovering their ill-gotten assets. A total of 3,453 fugitives have been brought back, including 48 of the 100 on Interpol's red notice list.

We also produced an eight-episode documentary on the fight against corruption, attracting an on air audience of over 600 million and 650 million viewers online. The achievements we made were recognized by both the Party and the general public, who have given us strong support and great help in our work. In my opinion, in the fight against corruption, the utmost power of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core comes from all Party members and the common Chinese people. With them behind us, we are fully confident to win the battle.

Sixth, we have upheld rule-based Party self-governance by improving Party regulations and tightening the cage of institutions.

Integrating the work of comprehensively deepening reform with institutional innovation, acting in strict accordance with the Party Constitution, and drawing on the experience gained through exploration and practice, the Party Central Committee amended or enacted over 90 Party regulations, bringing them in line with state laws. This has enabled rule-based self-governance of the Party and law-based governance of the country to complement and reinforce each other. As a result, the fight against corruption is based more on institutions, rules and laws.

Over the past five years, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and with the concerted efforts of the whole Party and the people, the political life within the Party has taken on a new look, and the Party's political ecosystem has markedly improved. The Party's ability to innovate, power to unite, and energy to fight have been significantly strengthened; Party unity and solidarity have been reinforced; and the Party's engagement with the people has been greatly improved.

The Party has made major breakthroughs in exploring an effective path to self-purification in the context of long-term governance, and has grown stronger, purer and more advanced through revolutionary tempering. It now radiates with great vitality, providing strong political underpinning for realizing the two centenary goals and revitalizing the Chinese nation.

2．We must put into practice the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress and continue to exercise full and strict Party self-governance.

For the Party to unite the people and lead them in carrying out our great struggle, advancing our great cause, and realizing our great dream, we must unwaveringly uphold and improve Party leadership, advance the great new project of Party building, and make the Party still stronger.

The report to the 19th National Congress has clearly set out the overall requirements, plan, and objective as well as key tasks for Party building in the new era. We must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the basic policy, gain a good understanding of them through earnest study, fully apply them in practice, and earnestly perform our duties entrusted by the Party Constitution. We will focus on the following areas.

First, we will put political building of the Party first, resolutely uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee, ensure earnest intraparty discipline and rules, and create an atmosphere in which discipline and rules are strictly observed. With this we will bring fundamental improvement in our political ecosystem.

Second, we will launch a campaign on the theme of "staying true to our founding mission" with the emphasis on studying and applying the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will urge our Party members and officials to study and put into practice the Thought, keep firmly in mind the Party's ideals, convictions, and purpose, and forever preserve the political character of Communists while steadfastly serving the people.

Third, we will work ceaselessly to improve Party conduct and enforce discipline. We will continue to implement the eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, fully strengthen the Party's disciplinary building, make good use of the four forms of oversight over discipline compliance, and bolster the foundation of the Party's governance through fine conduct and strict discipline.

Fourth, we will continue to see that in fighting corruption, there are no no-go zones, no ground left unturned, and no tolerance shown. We will maintain a tough stance and a long-term deterrence, and resolutely punish corruption. We will intensify efforts to address corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps, and continue to pursue corrupt elements who have fled overseas and recover their ill-gotten assets. We will address both the symptoms and root causes of corruption. We will strengthen deterrence so officials dare not be corrupt, strengthen the cage of institutions so they are unable to be corrupt, and strengthen their vigilance so that they have no desire to commit corruption. With this we will secure a crushing victory in the fight against corruption. Now that the anti-corruption campaign has been built into a crushing tide, we will do all we can to achieve a sweeping victory in the fight against corruption.

Fifth, we will strengthen intraparty oversight, develop sound Party and state oversight systems, and deepen reform of the national supervision system in line with the Central Committee's plan. We will give play to the role of disciplinary inspection as a blade that cuts through corruption and misconduct, and the role of oversight by stationed inspectors as a "probe" against corruption and misconduct. This will make the Party better able to purify, improve, and reform itself.

Yang Xiaodu:

With this I conclude my briefing. Thank you.

Guo Weimin:

Thank you, Mr. Yang. Now, let's give the floor to our media friends. We kindly remind you to identify the media outlet you represent before raising questions.