Some Thoughts on the Construction of the Party in New China in the Past Sixty Years

Speech delivered by Xi Jinping at the Autumn Semester Opening Ceremony of the Central Party School on September 1, 2009. The speech pointed out that the year 2009 marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China. Looking back on the 60-years course and experience of the Party construction of the CPC, it is very important for us to deepen our understanding and grasp of the laws of the construction of the Party under the condition of long-term governance, so as to comprehensively promote the new grand project of the construction of the Party and strive to create a new situation for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics at a new historical starting point.

The main points are: (1) Scientifically judging and accurately grasping the historical position of the Party, and strengthening and improving the construction of the Party in the gradual realization of the two major conversions; (2) Combining the grand cause of promoting the Party’s leadership with the great project of Party construction, and strengthening and improving the Party's construction in fulfilling the historical mission of governing for the people and governing and rejuvenating the state; (3) Profoundly summing up and applying both positive and negative experiences at home and abroad to strengthen and improve Party’s construction in upholding the truth and correcting mistakes.

The speech pointed out the main achievements of Party’s construction in the past 60 years in the Party's political line are the Party's guiding theory, the Party's cadre contingent construction, the Party's grass-roots organization construction, Party's work style construction, Party's system construction and the Party's new achievements in fighting corruption and promoting honesty. The speech pointed out that in combination with the grand course of our Party and our state in the 60 years since the founding of New China, we can get many important inspirations from the practice of Party construction.

Firstly, we should adhere to combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete reality and characteristics of the era and unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Secondly, we should strengthen and improve the Party's construction closely around the central task of the Party, especially the primary task of developing the Party's governance and rejuvenation of the country, so as to ensure that the Party construction work will always serve the economic and social development. Thirdly, we should adhere to the principle of building the Party for the public and governing the state for the people, and take the realization, maintenance and development of the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the purport, direction and purpose of the Party's construction, and maintain the flesh-and-blood relationship between the Party and the masses of people. Fourthly, we should uphold and improve democratic centralism, develop intra-Party democracy, maintain the authority of the Central Committee, and constantly strengthen the Party’s vitality and unity.

Fifthly, we should take the construction of the Party's governing capacity and advanced nature as the main line, take reform and innovation as the driving force, at the same time Party's ideological construction, organizational construction, style construction, system construction and anti-corruption construction, should be carried forward with a mutually supporting approach so as to improve the Party's construction as a whole.