Make the Ranks of the Party Cadres More Revolutionary, Younger, Better Educated and More Professionally Competent

In a shorter expression “more revolutionary, younger in average age, better educated and more professionally competent” are the four major criteria set by the CPC for building the contingent of cadres in the new period of Reform and Opening-up, which provide a scientific basis and guideline for the Party when inspecting and selecting cadres.

In August 1980, Deng Xiaoping proposed at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that the selection of cadres should pay attention to both ability and political integrity. “The so-called political integrity, is to, above all adhere to the path of socialism and the leadership of the Party. Under this premise, the contingent of cadres should be younger, better educated and more professional, and the promotion and use of such cadres should be institutionalized.” In December of the same year, Deng Xiaoping pointed out at the work conference of the CPC Central Committee that “on the premise of adhering to the path of socialism, we should make our contingent of cadres younger, more educated and more professional, and gradually formulate a sound cadre system to guarantee it. The prerequisite of the latter three standards is the criterion of being revolutionary, so it is necessary to adhere to the path of socialism as the premise”. In December 1982, “the four standards set for leading cadres” was written into the new Party Constitution adopted by the 12th CPC National Congress. In the spring of 1992, during his inspection tour of the South, Deng Xiaoping emphatically pointed out: “If any problem arises in China, it will arise from inside the Communist Party. We must keep clear heads. We must pay attention to training people, selecting and promoting to positions of leadership persons who have both ability and political integrity, in accordance with the principle that they should be revolutionary, young, well educated and professionally competent.”

The criterion of being revolutionary among the “four cadres criteria” is a requirement that involves the political quality of the cadres which mainly refers to adhering to the “Four Cardinal Principles”, supporting and implementing the Party’s basic line, politically aligning with the CPC Central Committee, not using or abusing power for personal gains, serving the people wholeheartedly, having strong Party spirit and decent work style, etc. The criterion of being younger is an age requirement for the cadres which mainly refers to being young and energetic and capable of handling and undertaking heavy workloads.

On the one hand, we continue to select outstanding young and middle-aged cadres to leading posts, and on the other hand, we implement the retirement system to ensure a reasonable age structure in the leading bodies at all levels. To be better educated is the requirement in the educational level of cadres. It mainly means that the cadres should constantly improve their scientific and cultural level in order to meet the needs of modernization. Attention should be paid not only to academic qualifications but also to true skill and genuine knowledge. To be professional is the requirement for the professional level of cadres. It mainly means that cadres should be armed with professional technology and knowledge so as to become experts who are proficient in their own profession. The four standards are interconnected and constitute an inseparable whole. Not to be revolutionary, the cadres would lose the way. To be revolutionary only but neglecting knowledge and profession, cadres will become armchair politicians; to be young requires that we should constantly train successors to the socialist cause by getting adapted to the law of metabolism, so as to ensure that the needs of sustainable development of socialist construction are met.

The four standards set for cadres also keep pace with the times. In his speech on “Striving to Build a Contingent of High-quality Cadres” delivered at a forum celebrating the 75th anniversary of the CPC founding on June 21, 1996, Jiang Zemin stressed that in order to improve the political quality of Party members and leading cadres, we must adhere to the “three stresses”, that is, “stress study, politics and righteousness”. In September 2009, at the 4th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, Hu Jintao put forward the employment standard of “adhering to both ability and political integrity and putting the latter first”.

Article 33 in Chapter 6 of the New Party Constitution revised by the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 offers its standards for Party cadres. That is, the Party selects cadres in accordance with the principle of having both ability and political integrity and putting the latter first, insisting in appointing people on the basis of merit rather than cronyism, and striving to make the contingent of cadres more revolutionary, younger, better educated and more professional.

Xi Jinping put forward the standard for good leading cadres as follows at the national organizational work conference in June 2013. They should be firm in belief, serve the people, be diligent and pragmatic, dare to take on, be honest and upright. The four standards set for leading cadres are the development of the cadre line of employing those who have merits, ability and political integrity under the new situation, which provides an organizational guarantee for the political line of Reform and Opening-up and socialist modernization.