Decision of the CPC Central Committee Concerning Some Major Issues on Strengthening Party Building

Adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee on September 28, 1994. Included in the Selection and Compilation of Important Documents since the 14th National Congress (Vol. 2). Under the new historical conditions, how to build the Party well is a brand-new topic and a very arduous task.

The “Decision” elevates the building of the Party to the level of a "new great project" and clearly sets out the general objective and task of Party building in the new stage of development, namely, to build the Party into a Marxist Party armed with the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully committed to serving the people, fully consolidated ideologically, politically and organizationally, able to withstand all kinds of risks and always at the forefront of the times, under the changing conditions of the contemporary world and the great changes of Reform and Opening-up and modernisation in contemporary China. The “Decision” points out that this is a new great project started by the second generation of the Party's Central Leadership with Comrade Deng Xiaoping at its core and being continued by the third generation of the Party's Central Leadership with Comrade Jiang Zemin at its core.

Around this general objective and task, we should focus on solving the ideological construction of the Party, putting ideological construction in the first place, focusing on the basic question of what is socialism and how to build socialism, grasping the theoretical system, unifying ideas and gaining a deep understanding that the Party style of the ruling Party is a matter of life and death for the Party. In terms of organizational development, three issues must be addressed: firstly, the democratic centralism must be further adhered to and improved, with particular emphasis on institutional development, so as to safeguard internal Party democracy with a complete system, safeguard the authority of the central government and ensure unified action by the entire Party on major issues. Secondly, we must further consolidate and strengthen the millions of Party grass-roots organizations, so that they can become the bastions of combat capable of uniting and leading the masses in reform, opening up and modernization. Thirdly, it is necessary to further cultivate and train tens of thousands of senior and middle-ranking Party cadres, especially to train and select a large number of young cadres with both virtue and talent, so as to form a leadership that is determined to follow the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, adept at studying new situations and solving new problems, and competent and energetic.

The “Decision” sets forth five strict requirements for senior Party cadres: they should have firm political convictions, always keep a clear mind, consciously adhere to the Party's basic theory and basic line, and withstand the test of various storms; they should have an open mind, be familiar with national conditions, understand the world, liberate their minds, seek truth from facts, be pragmatic and innovative, and forge ahead; they should have a broad mind, strong Party spirit, take into account the overall situation, be models in practicing execute democratic centralism, be fair and upright, appoint cadres according to their merits and be good at uniting comrades to work together; they should have strong leadership skills, the art of leadership, review the situation, master the overall situation, good at coordinating the forces of all parties; they should have a good style of work, be honest and diligent, work hard, go deep into practice, implement investigation and study, be modest and prudent, have strong ties with the masses, and sincerely work for the interests of the people.

The “Decision” is an important Marxist document formulated by concentrating the wisdom of the whole Party comrades, fully embodying Deng Xiaoping's theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, especially the thought of Party building, penetrating the spirit of the 14th Party Congress, scientifically analyzing the situation facing Party construction, pointing out that while fully implementing the Party Central Committee's deployment on ideological construction and working style construction, strengthening organizational construction has become a salient link. The “Decision” is a programmatic document for strengthening Party building under the new situation, which has a significant and far-reaching impact on improving the Party's leadership and governance level and promoting Reform and Opening-up and socialist modernization.