On January 8, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.
　　Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng

　　■ Through ten years of unremitting and vigorous anti-corruption efforts in the new era, the anti-corruption struggle has won an overwhelming victory and been comprehensively consolidated, but the situation remains grave and complex. We must have a clear understanding of the new circumstances and new trends in the anti-corruption struggle, and a clear understanding of the soil and conditions that breed corruption. With the tenacity and perseverance of always being on the road, we must focus our efforts precisely and sustain them, and resolutely win the tough and protracted battle against corruption.

　　■ In the practice of deepening the Party's self-reform, nine issues need to be grasped well, namely: upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee as the fundamental guarantee; taking the guidance of the great social revolution as the fundamental purpose; taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the fundamental guideline; taking escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall as the strategic goal; taking solving the unique challenges of a large party as the main direction of attack; taking improving the system of full and rigorous Party self-governance as the effective path; taking forging strong organizations and building a capable workforce as the important focus; taking rectifying conduct, enforcing discipline, and combating corruption as the important lever; and taking the combination of self-supervision and people's supervision as the powerful driving force. We must persist in emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground, continuously carry out practical exploration and theoretical innovation, continuously deepen our understanding of the laws governing the Party's self-reform, make the ideas and measures for the Party's self-reform more rigorous, and ensure that self-reform on every front and in every link is carried out concretely and in depth.

　　■ In the anti-corruption struggle on the new journey, we must continue to focus efforts and advance in depth in eradicating the soil and conditions that breed corruption. The general requirement is to uphold the integrated advancement of making officials afraid to corrupt, unable to corrupt, and unwilling to corrupt, deepen addressing both symptoms and root causes and systematic governance, continuously expand the depth and breadth of the anti-corruption struggle, take targeted measures, apply precise governance, and adopt multiple measures simultaneously, so that recurring old problems gradually decrease, new problems are difficult to spread, and the prevention and governance of corruption become regular and long-term.

　　■ We must strengthen the Party's centralized, unified leadership over the anti-corruption struggle. We must continue to maintain a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption. We must deepen reform to block the breeding and spread of corruption. We must further improve anti-corruption laws and regulations. We must intensify punishment of bribery. We must persevere in purifying the political ecosystem. We must strengthen the building of a culture of integrity in the new era.

　　People's Daily, Beijing, January 8 — On the morning of January 8, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. He emphasized that through ten years of unremitting and vigorous anti-corruption efforts in the new era, the anti-corruption struggle has won an overwhelming victory and been comprehensively consolidated, but the situation remains grave and complex. We must have a clear understanding of the new circumstances and new trends in the anti-corruption struggle, and a clear understanding of the soil and conditions that breed corruption. With the tenacity and perseverance of always being on the road, we must focus our efforts precisely and sustain them, and resolutely win the tough and protracted battle against corruption.

　　Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, and Ding Xuexiang, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. Li Xi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, presided over the meeting.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that 2023 was the first year for fully implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress. The Party Central Committee unswervingly advanced the Party's self-reform, carried out in-depth thematic education throughout the Party on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, persevered in using the Party's innovative theory to forge the soul and consolidate loyalty, focused on making political supervision concrete, precise, and regular, focused on rectifying prominent problems of formalism and bureaucratism, resolutely removed harmful elements from the ranks of Party members and officials, strengthened management and supervision of Party members and officials in a strict and practical manner, promoted the deepening of full and rigorous Party self-governance, and promoted the unswerving implementation of the decisions and arrangements of the 20th CPC National Congress, powerfully guiding and safeguarding the start of the new journey.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that as the world's largest Marxist governing party, how can our Party successfully escape the historical cycle of rise and fall and ensure that it never changes its nature, color, or flavor? This is a strategic issue facing all comrades in the Party. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, in the great practice of advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance, we have continuously carried out practical exploration and theoretical thinking. On the basis of the first answer given by Comrade Mao Zedong — "let the people supervise the government" — we have given the second answer, which is to continuously advance the Party's self-reform. In the practice and theoretical exploration of full and rigorous Party self-governance over the ten years of the new era, we have continuously deepened our understanding of the Party's self-reform, accumulated rich practical experience, formed a series of important theoretical achievements, and systematically answered major questions such as why our Party should carry out self-reform, why it can carry out self-reform, and how to advance self-reform.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that in the practice of deepening the Party's self-reform, nine issues need to be grasped well, namely: upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee as the fundamental guarantee; taking the guidance of the great social revolution as the fundamental purpose; taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the fundamental guideline; taking escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall as the strategic goal; taking solving the unique challenges of a large party as the main direction of attack; taking improving the system of full and rigorous Party self-governance as the effective path; taking forging strong organizations and building a capable workforce as the important focus; taking rectifying conduct, enforcing discipline, and combating corruption as the important lever; and taking the combination of self-supervision and people's supervision as the powerful driving force. We must persist in emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground, continuously carry out practical exploration and theoretical innovation, continuously deepen our understanding of the laws governing the Party's self-reform, make the ideas and measures for the Party's self-reform more rigorous, and ensure that self-reform on every front and in every link is carried out concretely and in depth.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that in the anti-corruption struggle on the new journey, we must continue to focus efforts and advance in depth in eradicating the soil and conditions that breed corruption. The general requirement is to uphold the integrated advancement of making officials afraid to corrupt, unable to corrupt, and unwilling to corrupt, deepen addressing both symptoms and root causes and systematic governance, continuously expand the depth and breadth of the anti-corruption struggle, take targeted measures, apply precise governance, and adopt multiple measures simultaneously, so that recurring old problems gradually decrease, new problems are difficult to spread, and the prevention and governance of corruption become regular and long-term.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that we must strengthen the Party's centralized, unified leadership over the anti-corruption struggle. Party committees at all levels must earnestly strengthen leadership over the entire process of the anti-corruption struggle, resolutely support the investigation and handling of corruption cases, and tackle problems head-on in rectification. Discipline inspection commissions and supervisory commissions, as specialized organs, must more proactively shoulder responsibilities, effectively assist Party committees in organizing and coordinating anti-corruption work, and integrate forces across the entire anti-corruption chain. Functional departments must adhere to efficient coordination and consciously translate the Party Central Committee's decisions and arrangements on anti-corruption into concrete actions.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that we must continue to maintain a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption. Facing a still grave and complex situation, anti-corruption must absolutely not turn back, must not slacken, and must not show mercy; the charge must always be sounded. We must continue to keep a close eye on the "seven types of conduct," make severe punishment of corruption involving collusion between government and business the top priority in the tough battle, resolutely crack down on capital seeking profit backed by power, and resolutely prevent various interest groups and powerful cliques from infiltrating the political sphere. We must deepen rectification of corruption in fields where power is concentrated, funds are intensive, and resources are abundant, such as finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, medicine, and infrastructure projects, and eliminate risks and hidden dangers. We must punish "fly-like greed and ant-like corruption" so that the people have a greater sense of gain.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that we must deepen reform to block the breeding and spread of corruption. The essence of corruption is the abuse of power. We must grasp key powers such as policy-making, decision-making, and approval and supervision, focus on key areas to deepen institutional and mechanism reform, accelerate the building of governance mechanisms in emerging fields, improve the mechanisms for allocating and exercising power, further plug institutional loopholes, standardize discretionary power, and reduce opportunities for rent-setting and rent-seeking. We must establish a linkage mechanism for early warning and punishment of corruption, strengthen dynamic monitoring of integrity risks and hidden dangers, and strengthen rapid handling of new and hidden forms of corruption.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that we must further improve anti-corruption laws and regulations. We must improve basic laws and regulations around the integrated advancement of making officials afraid to corrupt, unable to corrupt, and unwilling to corrupt, and improve supporting systems for strengthening supervision of "top leaders" and leadership teams. We must continue to advance national anti-corruption legislation, revise the Supervision Law in keeping with the times, and, taking the opportunity of studying and implementing the newly revised regulations on disciplinary sanctions, carry out a concentrated discipline education throughout the Party. We must strengthen supervision and inspection of the implementation of key laws and regulations to ensure unified compliance and unified implementation.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that we must intensify punishment of bribery. We must seriously investigate and deal with those bribe-givers who constantly drag officials down and harm their localities, circulate typical cases, and set the record straight and serve as a warning. We must intensify the recovery and correction of improper benefits obtained through bribery.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that we must persevere in purifying the political ecosystem. We must uphold both eliminating the bad and promoting the good, strictly enforce political discipline and political rules, strictly conduct intra-Party political life, break "hidden rules," establish "open rules," resolutely prevent "small circles," "paying homage to patrons," and "building connections," forcefully crack down on various political swindlers, and strictly prevent the principle of commodity exchange from being brought into the Party. We must persevere in rectifying unhealthy tendencies in selecting and appointing officials, promote the formation of clean and refreshing comradely relations and proper superior-subordinate relations, and promote a clear and beautiful political ecosystem.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that we must strengthen the building of a culture of integrity in the new era. We must carry out in-depth education on Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline, inherit the Party's glorious traditions and fine style of work, inspire Communists' lofty ideals and pursuits, and regard abusing power for personal gain and embezzlement and corruption as a great shame. We must pay attention to family, family education, and family tradition, and urge leading officials to strictly manage their relatives and children. We must actively publicize the concept of integrity and exemplary models of integrity, and create a good trend of honoring integrity and rejecting corruption.

　　Xi Jinping emphasized that discipline inspection and supervision organs are an important force in advancing the Party's self-reform, shoulder special political responsibilities and glorious missions and tasks, and must always be absolutely loyal, absolutely reliable, and absolutely pure. We must consolidate and expand the results of education and rectification, further build political loyalty, be of one heart and one mind with the Party Central Committee at all times and under all circumstances, and translate enhancing the "four consciousnesses," strengthening the "four confidences," and achieving the "two upholds" into practical actions of obeying the Party's command and fulfilling responsibilities for the Party. We must uphold principles, dare to unsheathe the sword, dare to struggle and be good at struggling, take responsibility and fulfill duties, unswervingly rectify conduct, enforce discipline, and combat corruption, and promote the deepening of full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must strengthen the building of the discipline inspection and supervision cadre team, regularly remove harmful elements, resolutely prevent "darkness under the lamp," strive to be examples of self-reform and benchmarks of compliance with rules and discipline, and build an iron team of discipline inspection and supervision that reassures the Party Central Committee and satisfies the people.

　　When presiding over the meeting, Li Xi pointed out that the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized the new progress and new results of full and rigorous Party self-governance, profoundly expounded the important thought on the Party's self-reform, scientifically answered major questions such as why our Party should carry out self-reform, why it can carry out self-reform, and how to advance self-reform, clearly put forward the practical requirements of the "nine upholds," and made strategic arrangements for continuing to focus efforts and advance the anti-corruption struggle in depth. The speech is far-sighted, broad in vision, profound in thought, and rich in content, and is the fundamental guideline for deepening full and rigorous Party self-governance, Party conduct and integrity building, and the anti-corruption struggle on the new journey of the new era. We must thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on the Party's self-reform, firmly support the "two establishments" and resolutely achieve the "two upholds," advance full and rigorous Party self-governance and the Party's self-reform in depth, and provide a strong guarantee for comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization.

　　Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, relevant leading comrades of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, State Councilors, the President of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, relevant leading comrades of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and members of the Central Military Commission attended the meeting.

　　Members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, principal responsible comrades of departments of central and state organs and people's organizations, principal responsible comrades of relevant military units, and others attended the meeting. The meeting was held by video-telephone conference, with sub-venues set up in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and relevant military units.

　　The third plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China opened in Beijing on January 8. The Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection presided over the meeting. On the afternoon of January 8, Li Xi, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, delivered a work report entitled "Thoroughly Study and Implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's Important Thought on the Party's Self-Reform and Advance High-Quality Development of Discipline Inspection and Supervision Work on the New Journey in Depth."