China's disciplinary agency pledges to implement Party congress principles

BEIJING - The top disciplinary agency of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday pledged in a communique that studying and implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress will be the primary political task now and in the near future.

The communique was adopted at the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which was held in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the plenum and delivered an important speech.

Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the session.

The session made arrangements for disciplinary work in 2023, and deliberated and approved a work report delivered by Li Xi on behalf of the CCDI standing committee.

The CCDI will carefully study Xi's speech at the plenum, push forward full and rigorous Party self-governance ceaselessly on China's new journey in the new era, and staunchly carry forward the Party's self-reform, the communique said.

This year is the first year that the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress will be put into action. It is a key year for the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and an important year that will pave the way for China to become a modern socialist country in all respects, the communique said.

Efforts shall be made to enhance political oversight with a focus on implementing the strategic plans made by the 20th CPC National Congress, it said.

Stressing the need to unswervingly uphold the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, the communique vowed to ensure that all Party members follow the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core closely in terms of political stance, orientation, principles and path.

Oversight and inspections shall be strengthened to ensure the faithful implementation of the decisions and arrangements made by the Party Central Committee in light of evolving situations, according to the communique.

Stressing the importance of improving the systems and regulations for the Party's self-reform, the communique called for efforts to improve the framework for Party regulations, consider revising regulations on Party disciplinary penalties, and advance national anti-corruption legislation, so that disciplinary oversight is exercised on a regular basis.

It vowed to see that political inspections serve as a powerful tool, urging efforts to revise Party regulations on disciplinary inspection and formulate a five-year plan for disciplinary inspection work.

The communique also stressed the need for continuous efforts to implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct, and to tackle pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

Those who intentionally defy Party discipline must be punished severely, the communique said, adding that investigations and punishments will be stepped up for recurrent and stubborn problems, old problems that take on new forms, and disguised forms of misconduct.

The communique also vowed to target those who shirk their responsibilities or fail to make sufficient efforts to implement the major decisions and plans made by the Party Central Committee.

Those who partially understand the policies, measures and work arrangements, and implement them mechanically or recklessly will be targeted.

The dereliction of duty, the abuse of power, as well as distorted views of power, performance evaluations and career development must be rectified, the communique said.

To strengthen the Party's discipline construction fully and in a comprehensive way, the communique called for improvements to regular discipline education and its integration into daily management and supervision to enhance the sense of discipline among Party members and cadres.

On winning the tough and protracted battle against corruption, the document stressed the need for more forceful actions to both prevent new corruption cases and root out existing ones.

Efforts shall be made to investigate and deal with corruption that involves both political and economic elements, resolutely prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, or any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development, the communique said.

It also highlighted anti-corruption work in key areas with high concentrations of power, funds and resources, such as the finance, state-owned enterprise, judicial, procuratorial and public security fields, as well as the grain purchasing and marketing system.

The anti-corruption work will focus on those who fail to restrain themselves from corruption after the 18th CPC National Congress. It will strictly investigate and handle cases of corruption where leading officials' spouses, children, children's spouses, other relatives or staff use an official's influence to seek personal gains, according to the communique.

It is imperative to resolutely crack down on corruption that undermines the people's interests, combat new and disguised forms of corruption, and punish both bribe takers and givers, the communique said. It noted that the country will deepen international cooperation to combat corruption, carry out further "Sky Net" operations, and establish an integrated mechanism to pursue fugitives, prevent escapes and retrieve stolen assets.

It called for reforms to the discipline inspection and supervision system to be deepened, emphasizing the role of reform in the integration of manpower and resources.

It also stressed the importance of training high-caliber discipline inspection and supervision professionals who are competent enough to shoulder their mission on China's new journey in the new era.

The document vowed to build a strong discipline inspection and supervision corps that is absolutely loyal to the Party, and to eliminate "black sheep" to ensure the team is uncompromising in its integrity.

The plenary session stressed the need to rally around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, move in the direction set at the 20th CPC National Congress, and strive for more progress in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, improving conduct, building integrity and combating corruption.

The plenum called on all disciplinary inspectors and supervisors to strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts.