[Persistently Advancing Full and Strict Party Self-Governance] Enforce Discipline and Rules to Foster a Clean and Upright Political Environment

CCTV.com report (Xinwen Lianbo): General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: If the Party is to manage itself and govern itself strictly, what should it rely on to manage and govern? It must rely on strict discipline. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has incorporated Party discipline building into the overall plan for Party building in the new era, put discipline and rules first, continually tightened institutional constraints, advanced the goals of ensuring that people do not dare to, cannot and do not want to engage in corruption in an integrated way, and consistently purified the political environment. This has fundamentally reversed the lax and weak state of Party management and governance, providing a strong guarantee for building a strong country and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

Improper practices and corruption problems occurring among the people erode their sense of gain and the Party’s foundation of governance. Since the start of the new era, full and strict Party self-governance has continued to extend to the grassroots. Beginning in 2024, in accordance with arrangements by the CPC Central Committee, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Commission of Supervision launched a nationwide campaign to address improper practices and corruption problems among the people, promoting solutions to the problems that the people are most urgently concerned about and find most difficult to resolve.

Not long ago, Ping’an Village in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, completed improvements at several waterlogging sites. Newly added drainage outlets and newly built ditches channel rainwater into the pipe network, so villagers are no longer hindered when traveling. The funds for the improvements were recovered from collective funds embezzled by village officials.

Addressing improper practices and corruption problems among the people, and enabling them to genuinely feel that full and strict Party self-governance is happening right around them, is a vivid example of the Communist Party of China in the new era using strict discipline to ensure that policies are implemented effectively and to safeguard the people’s interests in real terms.

Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building has put forward, in a creative way, that strengthening discipline is the fundamental policy for full and strict Party self-governance. What does a governing party with more than 100 million members rely on to manage its ranks well? What does it rely on to overcome risks and challenges? In addition to correct theory and lines, principles and policies, it must rely on strict standards and discipline.

Drawing on the great practice of full and strict Party self-governance in the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important remarks that provide fundamental guidance for building discipline. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that everyone is equal before discipline and that no Party member is allowed to be a special case exempt from discipline. He has made clear that strengthening Party discipline is ongoing work, and that Party members and officials should be guided to turn external restraint into self-discipline, internalizing it as standards of conduct followed in everyday life without conscious effort. He has explained in depth that discipline building must be given a more prominent place, and that strict requirements must be applied throughout the entire process of formulating Party regulations, educating people about Party discipline, and supervising its enforcement.

Having rules to follow is a prerequisite for strict discipline. Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building has clearly called for governing the Party through institutions and in accordance with rules.

Since the start of the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has strengthened top-level design and overall planning, and issued the *Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Development of Intra-Party Laws and Regulations*. This is the first central document in the Party’s history devoted specifically to planning and advancing the development of intra-Party laws and regulations. It established the basic “1+4” framework for the system of intra-Party laws and regulations.

A series of intra-Party regulations, including the *Regulations on the Work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China*, the *Several Provisions of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening and Upholding the Central Committee’s Centralized and Unified Leadership*, and the *Regulations on Requests for Instructions and Reports on Major Matters by the Communist Party of China*, have been formulated and issued. At the institutional level, they have put into practice the Party’s leadership over the overall situation and coordination among all parties, especially the “Two Upholds,” and have effectively reversed tendencies to dilute, weaken and hollow out Party leadership.

A number of important intra-Party regulations have been formulated or revised, including the *Several Guidelines on Political Life within the Party under the New Situation*, the regulations on intra-Party supervision, disciplinary action, accountability and inspection work. This has advanced full and strict Party self-governance on the basis of rules and regulations, deepening it continuously and tightening the “bolts” on Party management and governance.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has held that the Party must first forge itself into strong steel. With the sense of mission to “offend thousands, but not fail 1.4 billion,” it has tackled ills and brought order out of chaos, launching an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign. It has upheld the principles of no forbidden zones, full coverage and zero tolerance, while emphasizing containment, maintaining intense pressure and ensuring lasting deterrence. It has pursued “tigers,” “flies” and “foxes” through multiple channels and investigated both bribe-taking and bribery. The anti-corruption campaign has achieved an overwhelming victory, which has been consolidated across the board. Our Party has successfully embarked on a distinctly Chinese path of anti-corruption under the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership, addressing both symptoms and root causes while advancing in an integrated way the goals of ensuring that people do not dare to, cannot and do not want to engage in corruption.

From January to September 2026, discipline inspection and supervision agencies nationwide opened 800,000 cases and disciplined 680,000 people. Among them, 73 provincial- or ministerial-level and higher-ranking officials were investigated, and 105 were disciplined.

Embarking on a new journey to build a strong country and advance national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, the entire Party is persistently correcting conduct, enforcing discipline and combating corruption. It continues to cultivate a sound political environment of peace and order, turning the political advantage of strict discipline into practical results that ease the people’s concerns and promote development, and strives to achieve results on the new journey that stand the test of practice, the people and history.