The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a mobilization order for further comprehensively deepening reform on the new journey of the new era. Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization. In the new stage of comprehensively deepening reform, how can the Party's leadership role be better brought into play? The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese Modernization," deliberated and adopted at the plenary session, made dedicated arrangements for "improving the Party's leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization."

　　The key to running China's affairs well lies in the Party. Precisely because of the extreme importance of Party leadership and Party building, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese Modernization" treats Party leadership and Party building as important content in summarizing experience, expounding significance, proposing principles, and deploying measures.

　　The "Decision" highly evaluates the successful practice and great achievements of comprehensively deepening reform since the new era, summarizes the valuable experience of reform and opening up, especially the valuable experience of comprehensively deepening reform in the new era, and proposes the principles of "Six Persistences," the first of which is "adhering to the Party's overall leadership."

　　Xie Chuntao, Vice President (Vice Minister-level) in charge of daily work at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC (National Academy of Governance): "Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, we have carried out more than 3,000 reforms, and this Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee has identified more than 300 more. Why have we been able to complete reforms over the past decade and more? Why have we been able to reform well? Why have we dared to reform? It is because of the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, and especially because General Secretary Xi Jinping is at the helm and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era provides scientific guidance."

　　Being good at using reform methods to solve problems in development is an important experience in our Party's governance. The current and coming period is a crucial period for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. The situation and environment we face are more complex than ever before, and the tasks of reform and development we shoulder are more arduous than ever before. How can the general goal of further comprehensively deepening reform be achieved? The "Decision" emphasizes the "Seven Focuses," one of which is "focusing on improving the Party's leadership level and long-term governing capacity."

　　Zhang Qiang, Director (Director-General) of the Research Office (Policy and Legal Affairs Bureau) of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee: "Further comprehensively deepening reform involves a wide scope, touches deep interests, and is difficult to tackle. It has put forward new and higher requirements for Party organizations at all levels to correctly judge the situation, scientifically plan reform, broadly gather strength, and promote the implementation of reform, as well as for the spiritual state, thinking and concepts, quality and ability, and style and image of the broad ranks of Party members and cadres. This requires persisting in leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution and continuously improving the Party's leadership level and governing capacity."

　　On the new journey, how can the Party's leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization be improved? The "Decision" devotes a dedicated section to deploying this and makes specific arrangements in three aspects. The focus of the first aspect is to uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee over further comprehensively deepening reform.

　　The "Decision" proposes: The Party Central Committee leads the overall design, overall coordination, and overall advancement of reform. Improve the mechanism for implementing the Party Central Committee's major decisions and arrangements, and ensure that the Party Central Committee's orders are obeyed and prohibitions are halted.

　　Xie Chuntao: "The whole Party must profoundly understand what our next reforms are to change, how to change them, and why we are changing them this way. Some major ideas, requirements, and tasks for reform have been put forward, but exactly how to change them still requires a series of arduous operational tasks; some reforms need to be piloted; we must encourage all regions and departments to boldly experiment and boldly break new ground, and promptly summarize the successful experience created at the grassroots level. Only when all these links are sound will our capacity to implement the Central Committee's major decisions and arrangements be strong and our systems be smooth."

　　Further comprehensively deepening reform must directly confront problems. Reform is forced into being by problems and is deepened in the constant solving of problems. The Decision proposes to set reform topics around resolving prominent contradictions, optimize the mechanism for generating key reform plans, uphold truth and correct mistakes, promptly discover problems and correct deviations.

　　Xie Chuntao: "Some problems exist and have not been well resolved for a long time, often because there are causes or root causes in the systems and mechanisms. The Central Committee's major policies and reform ideas are already clear; specific implementation requires leading cadres at all levels to directly confront contradictions and problems, to study where the contradictions are embodied and what the causes and crux of the contradictions are, and to resolve and overcome these contradictions and problems one by one in the spirit of reform."

　　How to improve the Party's leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization? The focus of the second aspect deployed by the "Decision" is to deepen the reform of the Party building system.

　　Only by building the Party stronger and more powerful can we ensure that Chinese modernization cleaves through waves and sails steadily and far. Entering the new era and new journey, the environment and problems faced by Party building have changed. To adapt to the needs of the new era, the "Decision" proposes improving the institutional mechanisms of Party building and sets out requirements for deepening the reform of the cadre and personnel system.

　　Zhang Qiang: "Cadres are the backbone of the Party's cause. The most important thing in mobilizing and protecting the enthusiasm of cadres is to adhere to the correct orientation in selecting and appointing people. The 'Decision' upholds the standards for good cadres in the new era and further emphasizes being determined to reform and having outstanding achievements. It emphasizes vigorously selecting cadres who are politically sound, dare to take responsibility, are determined to reform, have outstanding achievements, and are honest and upright. Striving to solve the problems of acting arbitrarily, failing to act, not daring to act, and not being good at acting is precisely to use the correct orientation in appointing people to guide the orientation of undertaking work and entrepreneurship, and to encourage the broad ranks of cadres to strive to be promoters of reform and doers."

　　In the face of arduous and heavy tasks of reform, development, and stability, how can we ensure that Party members and cadres' view of political achievements does not deviate? How can we better stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of the cadre ranks? The "Decision" proposes establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements and improving the working mechanism for effectively preventing and correcting deviations in the view of political achievements. Implement the "Three Distinctions" to encourage cadres to forge ahead and undertake work and entrepreneurship.

　　The essence of the "Three Distinctions" is tolerance for mistakes and encouragement of innovation, but what is tolerated is not people who deliberately violate discipline or law, but cadres who forge ahead and do not seek private gain.

　　Zhang Qiang: "Undertaking work always involves risks; one cannot expect every task to succeed without failure. While strengthening responsibility constraints, we must encourage forging ahead and encourage pioneering innovation, and further create a good environment conducive to undertaking work and entrepreneurship. The plenary session's 'Decision' proposes implementing the 'Three Distinctions' precisely to highly unify strict management and supervision with encouraging responsibility and action, to correctly view mistakes and errors made by cadres in performing their duties, to take responsibility for those who take responsibility, to be accountable for those who are accountable, to support those who do the work, and to encourage those who innovate."

　　In response to the long-standing difficult problem that restricts cadre work—that leading cadres can go up but not down—the "Decision" proposes to "promote the normalization of leading cadres being able to go up and also go down, and increase efforts to adjust cadres unsuitable for their current positions."

　　Zhang Qiang: "That cadres can go up but not down is a long-standing difficult problem that has troubled us. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee has formulated and implemented the 'Provisions on Promoting Leading Cadres Being Able to Go Up and Also Go Down,' achieving breakthrough progress in solving this problem. The 'Decision' further emphasizes promoting the normalization of leading cadres being able to go up and also go down, increasing efforts to adjust cadres unsuitable for their current positions, and promoting the formation of a good situation in which the capable go up, the excellent are rewarded, the mediocre go down, and the inferior are eliminated."

　　To comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization, there is an urgent need for the cadre ranks to improve their capabilities. Without a great study by the whole Party and without great training of cadres, there can be no great development of the cause. The "Decision" proposes improving normalized training, especially basic training mechanisms, strengthening professional training and practical exercise, and comprehensively improving cadres' capacity for modernization.

　　Xie Chuntao: "Basic training must first achieve full coverage, with all who should be trained being trained. As for the content of training, we see three aspects as important: first, receiving Party theoretical education, using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge the soul and consolidate the foundation; second, we must receive Party spirit education; and third, training in performance capacity. Next, we will work with relevant parties to intensify the reform of training systems and mechanisms, go all out to do a good job in cadre training, and on this basis further do a good job in training Party members."

　　Adapting to the new situation and new problems, the "Decision" also makes arrangements for strengthening Party building in the "Three New" fields.

　　Zhang Qiang: "Economic and social development is now very fast, and social structure, modes of production, organizational forms, and ways of employment are undergoing profound changes. New economic organizations and new social organizations are emerging in large numbers, and this field has become an important new front for grassroots Party building. For this reason, the 'Decision' proposes exploring effective ways to strengthen Party building in new economic organizations, new social organizations, and among new employment groups, precisely to better expand the Party's appeal, cohesion, and influence in emerging fields, closely unite everyone around the Party, and gather them into the Party's cause."

　　How to improve the Party's leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization? The focus of the third aspect deployed by the "Decision" is to deeply advance the building of Party conduct and clean government and the fight against corruption.

　　The Party's style of work is the Party's image; it bears on the support of the people and on the Party's survival and demise. Corruption is the greatest threat to the Party's long-term governance. On the new journey, if the strict tone is relaxed even slightly, unhealthy tendencies and corruption will make a comeback. The "Decision" proposes improving the mechanism for making political supervision concrete, precise, and normalized.

　　Xie Chuntao: "Political supervision is the most important supervision, because the content of supervision is to see whether Party committees and Party groups at all levels have implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and directives and implemented the Central Committee's decisions and arrangements, and how well they have done so. We must study how to normalize, institutionalize, and make it concrete, so that every leading group and every leading cadre at every level can truly feel that political supervision is everywhere and that political supervision constrains them at all times."

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, full and rigorous Party self-governance began by formulating and implementing the Central Committee's Eight-Point Regulation, with General Secretary Xi Jinping leading by example and taking the lead. The "Decision" proposes perseveringly implementing the spirit of the Central Committee's Eight-Point Regulation, improving institutional mechanisms for preventing and combating formalism and bureaucracy, and clearly puts forward a number of targeted reform measures.

　　Xie Chuntao: "Why do formalism and bureaucracy still exist in some places? In addition to problems of understanding and concepts, it may be related to the incomplete reform of systems and mechanisms in certain areas. Therefore, this plenary session's 'Decision' clearly and specifically proposes some measures, such as reducing supervision, inspections, evaluations, and comparisons imposed on the grassroots; and more specifically, it proposes formulating a list of duties for townships (subdistricts), specifying which matters grassroots townships and subdistricts must do and which they should not do. I think if this list is truly formulated, the burden on the grassroots will certainly be reduced and alleviated."

　　The "Decision" also proposes a series of important arrangements, including "improving the working mechanism for integrated advancement of deterrence, prevention, and rejection of corruption, and striving to eradicate the soil and conditions for corruption" and "improving the Party and state supervision system," fully reflecting the firmness and sobriety of perseveringly advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance.

　　Deployment is one part, implementation is nine parts. The "Decision" proposes that by the time of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2029, the reform tasks proposed in this Decision shall be completed. Time is tight and tasks are heavy; we must grasp reform implementation with a nail-driving spirit and transform the strategic deployment of further comprehensively deepening reform into a powerful force for advancing Chinese modernization.

　　Xie Chuntao: "Responsibilities must be clear, specific, and implemented in place, and supervision must also be strengthened. This 'Decision' clearly proposes incorporating the supervision and evaluation of reform into inspections and patrols. I believe this is a very important institutional guarantee."