Senior Officials Taking the Lead

By+Lan+Xinzhen

The anti-corruption campaign launched since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） in 2012 has won high acclaim.

Nevertheless， the top priority of the CPC leadership remains maintaining the integrity of the Party so that it can competently lead the people of China to the realization of its development goals.

Against this backdrop， the Sixth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee， held in Beijing on October 24-27， focused on strengthening Party discipline. Senior officials became the main target of this round of enhanced Party discipline， according to the communiqué and the two documents adopted at the meeting， namely the Norms of Political Life Within the Party Under the New Situation and the Intra-Party Supervision Regulation.

Senior officials are those holding high-ranking public sector positions， including members of the CPC Central Committee and Party members that head Central Government ministries， provincial-level governments and leading state-owned enterprises or public institutions.

Why has the Party decided to put its most influential members under increasingly strict scrutiny？ The answer should be given in light of the current political atmosphere within the Party and the historical mandate of the CPC.

As the nations ruling Party， the CPC faces prominent challenges in exercising governance， ranging from corruption to inefficiency and abuse of power. Xi has repeatedly warned against the consequences of the inability to meet these challenges， saying corruption and other malpractices pose major risks to the Party.

Senior officials punished in relation to such issues， including Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai， have seriously harmed the healthiness of intra-Party political life and damaged the Partys image. Zhou， convicted of bribery， abuse of power and leaking state secrets， was previously a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau， the Partys top decisionmaking body. Before his fall， Bo was a member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee.

Although intra-Party political processes have improved conspicuously， owing to a series of new measures rolled out since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 with the aim of overhauling Party conduct， the new policies are not sufficient to prevent a re-occurrence of the problems. Institutional reform is necessary， and the two documents passed at the session serve this purpose.

While elaborating on the two documents at the meeting， Xi said the overhaul centers on senior officials because they set an example for the entire Party. Therefore， this group should be the first to act as the Party regulates and improves its political processes and toughens internal supervision.

Whether the Partys goals can be accomplished depends on the competence and integrity of its members， especially senior officials， who play essential roles in pushing for the realization of both the Partys and the nations aspirations.

The Norms of Political Life Within the Party Under the New Situation point out that senior officials should recognize the particular importance of their posts to both the Party and the nation and exercise strict self-discipline according to Party requirements.

The Intra-Party Supervision Regulation lays out specific requirements for the Partys central organizations. A chapter devoted to the supervision of these organizations emphasizes that members of the CPC Central Committee should rigorously follow the political discipline and rules of the Party， oppose conduct by other members that contravenes the Party Constitution， sabotages Party discipline or endangers Party unity， and report such misconduct to the CPC Central Committee.

Furthermore， it states that the Political Bureau should hold an annual meeting where participants criticize themselves as well as others， regardless of official rank， in order to improve conduct. Members of the Political Bureau should follow through the eightpoint rules， report key personal information faithfully to the CPC Central Committee， and strengthen oversight over their relatives and subordinates. The eight-point rules， issued by the Political Bureau in December 2012， urge officials to， inter alia， carry out down-to-earth research in communities， reduce pomp during their visits and meetings， streamline the release of official documents and practice thrift.

The designation of high-level officials as the major target of the current round of Party conduct improvement represents the CPCs determination to realize clean government in order to bring prosperity to the nation. As they pursue self-improvement， senior officials will facilitate national governance and contribute to Chinas stable development.