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The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its fifth plenary session from Monday to Thursday in Beijing, adopting a resolution on persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee presided over the meeting. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important address, said a communique issued after the session, per the Xinhua News Agency.

According to the communique issued after the session, the meeting adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Certain Major Issues concerning Persevering with Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance.

Chinese experts said the fifth plenary session underscores the CPC's determination to strengthen internal discipline and sustain its anti-corruption campaign, while reinforcing the Party's capacity to govern at a critical stage in China's development. The experts stressed that the greatest threats to a ruling party can come from within, making sustained self-governance and strict internal discipline essential to avoiding the historical cycle of rise and decline. Moreover, as China advances its modernization drive, the session carries broader significance for maintaining policy continuity, strengthening governance and laying the groundwork for the country's long-term development.

Rigorous self-governance 

At the session, the CPC Central Committee gave a highly positive assessment of the great achievements the Party has made in exercising full and rigorous self-governance in the new era.

It was pointed out that as the Party endeavors to supervise, govern, develop, and strengthen itself in the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put forward a series of new ideas, new thinking, and new strategies in response to the major questions of the times -- what kind of long-term governing Marxist party the CPC should build and how to build it, thereby giving rise to Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building.

"It was stressed that many favorable conditions are now in place for advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance, while we also face many new circumstances and new issues in this endeavor," the communique said.

Profound changes in global, national, and Party conditions have made the CPC's tasks of uniting and leading the people in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security, and development interests, of uniting and leading the people in promoting reform and development and maintaining social harmony and stability, and of maintaining its advanced nature and integrity even more formidable, it added.

At the session, the guiding principles for persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance were highlighted as follows: serving the Party's missions and tasks; taking strengthening the Party politically as the overarching principle; exercising rigorous governance across the board; adopting a problem-oriented approach; upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground; adhering to a top-down approach; and running the Party according to regulations.

Systematic plans for persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance were also made at the session with the emphasis on strengthening the Party spirit of Communists; strictly practicing democratic centralism; cultivating high-caliber officials capable of shouldering the mission of national rejuvenation; building a well-knit organizational system characterized by cross-level alignment and effective implementation; improving conduct and tightening discipline on an ongoing basis; taking firm and coordinated action against corruption; running the Party with systems and regulations; refining Party and state oversight systems; and ensuring all responsibilities of Party self-supervision and self-governance are fulfilled in earnest, according to the communique.  

Strict management of officials is the key to full and rigorous Party self-governance, it noted.

Party organizations at all levels play the principal role in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, said the communique, adding that it is therefore essential to systematically advance the development of Party organizations at all levels and in all sectors to strengthen their political and organizational functions.

Improving conduct and tightening discipline are effective measures to advance full and rigorous Party self-governance, said the communique.

"It was noted that taking integrated steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption is both an important strategy for full and rigorous Party self-governance and a fundamental guideline for our fight against corruption," the communique said.

"We must take systematic steps to address both symptoms and root causes of corruption and adopt a holistic approach that combines severe punishment, targeted remedy, and effective prevention, carrying this fight through to the end," it stated.

The purpose of strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance is to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) stronger, Xin Ming, a professor at the School of Marxism, Beihang University, told the Global Times. He noted that the strength comes from continuous self-reform and self-improvement, rooting out problems that undermine the Party's health, so that it can remain vigorous and better fulfill its responsibilities and missions.

Advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance is also a process of ensuring that the CPC stays true to its founding mission of serving the people, enabling it to pursue the long-term interests of society rather than catering to particular groups for short-term gains or yielding to external interference, Chen Shu, a professor from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times. 

Chen noted that the greatest threats often come from within, stressing that maintaining strict internal discipline is essential to overcoming the historical cycle of rise and decline and ensuring lasting stability.

General Secretary Xi has led an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign since 2012, driven by a determination to "offend a few thousand rather than fail 1.4 billion." The campaign has targeted corrupt officials at both high and low levels, according to a Xinhua report. 

An official review of work in 2025 reported that disciplinary and supervisory bodies nationwide investigated 967,000 cases of misconduct and corruption affecting people's daily lives, returning or helping recover about 77.6 billion yuan ($11.5 billion) in money and property to the public.

Far-reaching significance

Studying and implementing the guiding principles from this plenary session represent a major political task for the entire Party both at present and in the period to come, according to the communique. It was also stressed that all aspects of the Party's work agenda should be steadily advanced at the turn of the year.

The CPC Central Committee decided at the session that the Party will convene its 21st National Congress in Beijing in the second half of 2027 and stated that this congress, which is to be held at a critical stage for basically realizing socialist modernization and on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal, will be a highly important meeting and an event of great political significance for both the Party and the country.

The session elected Zhang Shengmin as a new member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, according to the communique.

The session also decided on the filling of empty seats on the Central Committee by alternate members, deliberated and adopted inspection reports of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Central Military Commission on those committing grave violations of discipline and laws, and confirmed the Political Bureau's previous decisions to punish those violators.

The CPC Central Committee called upon the entire Party to rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core and fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

As China enters a critical phase of its modernization drive, the fifth plenary session's emphasis on tightening Party discipline and strengthening internal governance is of particular significance. 

Achieving the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) requires a particular focus on improving the Party's capacity and competence in steering economic and social development, analysts said. 

The CPC's capacity to mobilize society and sustain long-term development has rested on its political leadership, policy planning and institutional framework. Strengthening the Party's capacity to govern is crucial to carrying out China's long-term development agenda, Xin noted.