As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, enhancing political capability has become particularly important and urgent. In this new era, we must uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership, firmly endorse the “Two Establishments,” and resolutely practice the “Two Safeguards.” By fully leveraging the Party’s political advantages, consolidating its leading and governing positions, and continuously improving its political leadership capacity, the entire Party can—only with robust political capability—consciously maintain high alignment with the Party Central Committee in thought, politics, and action, and at all times and under all circumstances remain unshaken by fleeting distractions and calmly navigate through turbulent waters. We must always stay true to the correct political direction, consistently preserve the Party’s political character, and steadfastly advance along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, ensuring that our red江山 (land) will forever retain its vibrant hue. By coordinating the strategic overall picture of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the unprecedented global changes unfolding over the past century, and by promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, we must comprehensively advance the cause of building a strong country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization. This calls for us to remain politically clear-headed, maintain political composure, and enhance our political competence at all times. We must firmly grasp and make full use of the winning formula for effectively addressing risks and challenges, handling complex situations, and gaining strategic initiative—thus successfully waging the great struggle characterized by many new historical features—and steering the ship of the Party and the state’s cause forward steadily and far into the future, braving wind and waves. To implement the general requirements for Party building in the new era and the Party’s organizational line for the new era, and to deepen the new great project of Party building in the new era, we must focus on building a high-quality cadre team capable of shouldering the great mission of national rejuvenation. This requires us to place political development at the forefront of all Party-building efforts, continuously enhancing the political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution capabilities of Party organizations at all levels and the vast number of Party members and cadres. We must unswervingly pursue comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and perpetually preserve the Party’s advanced nature and purity.

Enhancing political capability is an inevitable requirement for Marxist political parties to explicitly emphasize politics, and it is an intrinsic need to guide all aspects of Party building with political development.

Enhancing the quality and capability of our cadres and addressing the “fear of inadequacy” have always been major issues that Marxist political parties have attached great importance to. As early as 1922, Lenin, in elaborating on the New Economic Policy, pointed out: “We already possess ample, even abundant, political power; we also have sufficient economic means.” “What is needed here is simply competence—but we lack precisely that competence.” During the Yan'an period, Comrade Mao Zedong explicitly stated: “There is a kind of panic within our ranks—not an economic panic, nor a political panic, but a panic about our own competence.” To address this, Comrade Mao proposed “transforming the entire Party into a grand university” and called for “launching a Party-wide learning competition.” In March 2013, during his important speech at the 80th-anniversary celebration of the founding of the Central Party School, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: “It is foreseeable that, on the road ahead, difficulties, risks, and challenges from all quarters will undoubtedly continue to emerge. The key lies in whether we have the ability to overcome them, defeat them, and master them.” General Secretary Xi Jinping further emphasized: “A weak shoulder cannot bear a heavy burden. Whether it’s engaging in entrepreneurship or tackling tough problems, we not only need broad shoulders but also strong ones; we not only need solid political integrity but also outstanding competence.” As the cause of the Party and the country continues to develop, the demands placed on leading cadres’ capabilities will inevitably grow ever higher. Leading cadres must “strengthen their weak points and make up for their shortcomings in both competence and capability.” Among the qualities and capabilities of leading cadres, political quality is the most essential attribute, and political capability is the foremost among all abilities—it plays a guiding and overarching role, directly determining the effectiveness of enhancing and applying other qualities and capabilities, and reflecting and testing the level and practical results of using political development to guide all aspects of Party building.

  Only with political clarity can we act with conscious initiative; only with political steadfastness can we withstand tests and trials. Only by being politically strong and highly competent can we achieve great undertakings. Political building within the Party is its fundamental construction. When the Party’s political building is well done—when we grasp the correct political direction, uphold our political stance, and keep a firm hold on the overall political situation—and when our political capabilities are enhanced, we will have infused our Party’s construction with its very soul and rooted it deeply in the people. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of original statements centering on enhancing the Party’s leadership, governance, and capacity for state administration—especially its political capability. For instance, with a view to upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership and consolidating its long-term ruling status, and to comprehensively advancing the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, he has emphasized the need to strengthen the Party’s capacity for long-term governance, enhance its leadership and governance levels, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. With an eye toward bolstering the political and organizational functions of Party organizations at all levels, he has stressed the continuous enhancement of the Party’s creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness, noting that “the Communist Party of China possesses incomparably strong leadership, organizational, and executive capacities.” Moreover, with the aim of using political building to guide all aspects of Party development, while emphasizing the importance of sharpening political sensitivity and discernment, he has creatively introduced key concepts and major propositions such as “political competence,” “political leadership competence,” “political capability,” “political leadership,” “political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution,” “political self-restraint,” “political composure,” and “political self-discipline.” Together with other original and distinctive concepts—including “political soul, political loyalty, political responsibility, political health check, political assessment, political inspection, political supervision, political ecology, and political culture”—these form a theoretical, academic, and discursive framework for political building guided by the Marxist view of politics, imbued with Chinese characteristics and the unique traits of the Communist Party of China, and richly endowed with the hallmarks of the new era.

Upholding clear-cut political principles is a fundamental requirement for our Party as a Marxist political party and represents the most distinctive essential characteristic of Chinese Communists. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, Comrade Mao Zedong repeatedly emphasized the Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces and put forward the fundamental principle of building the Party through ideology and strengthening the military through politics. In the period of socialist revolution and construction, Comrade Mao Zedong stressed that political work is the lifeline of all economic endeavors. In the new era of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, Comrade Deng Xiaoping, on the one hand, held that “socialist modernization is our greatest current political task” and “economic work is the greatest current political task; economic issues are political issues that override everything else.” On the other hand, he argued that “if we are to achieve the Four Modernizations in China, we must uphold the Four Basic Principles politically and ideologically.”

General Secretary Xi Jinping has always attached great importance to political issues and emphasized stringent political requirements. As early as his time working in Zhengding, he stressed that cadres must be “politically astute and innovative in their work.” Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has placed great emphasis on the Party’s political development, stressing that “political issues are fundamental and critical issues at all times.” Party members and cadres must “persist in using the Marxist view of politics to examine themselves, transform themselves, and improve themselves,” and be adept at viewing issues from a political perspective. “Enhancing political capability hinges importantly on being skilled at analyzing and resolving problems from a political standpoint. Only by analyzing problems politically can we see through their essence; only by addressing problems politically can we grasp their root causes.” In November 2013, during an inspection tour of Shandong Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that leading cadres at all levels should focus on effectively guiding the tough battle of comprehensively deepening reform, strengthening both study and practice, and striving to enhance their ideological and political capabilities, their ability to mobilize and organize, and their capacity to manage complex contradictions. The introduction of the concept of “ideological and political capability” laid the foundation for the formulation of the original concept of “political capability”: In December 2015, at the special democratic life meeting of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee on the theme of “Three Stricts and Three Honests,” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must “be good at observing, analyzing, and solving problems from a political perspective,” and that “political capability must be strong, with particularly solid ideological resilience, strategic determination, and moral integrity—capable of standing up to severe tests and challenges.” In February 2017, at the opening ceremony of the special seminar for principal leading officials at the provincial and ministerial levels on studying and implementing the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that leading cadres should pay close attention to enhancing their political capability so that their political competence matches the leadership responsibilities they hold. In October 2020, at the opening ceremony of the training program for middle- and young-aged cadres at the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance), General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that, faced with complex situations and arduous tasks, we must seize opportunities amid crises and create new prospects amid changing circumstances. Cadres—especially young cadres—must enhance their “seven capabilities,” the first of which is “political capability.” In May 2023, while listening to the work report of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that, through learning, we should enhance our wisdom—and “the first priority is to boost political capability.” These important statements profoundly elucidate the conceptual genesis, crucial significance, rich substantive meaning, contemporary practical requirements, and intrinsic logical relationships between political capability and other political concepts and qualities and competencies. They provide scientific guidance for steering all aspects of Party building under the banner of political development and ensuring that the requirement of clearly upholding political principles is effectively implemented.

Political capability, at its most fundamental level, is political leadership; at its most critical level, it is political judgment, political insight, and political execution; and at its most basic level, it is political self-control and political composure.

As a fundamental concept in political science, politics is the core component of the superstructure built upon a specific economic foundation, and it serves as the concentrated embodiment of the economic interests and demands of social members. Marxist political science, while grounded in—and yet transcending—the general meaning of politics, scientifically reveals the class nature of politics through the methodological approaches of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. It clarifies that, as a central component of the superstructure, politics is the concentrated expression of the class interests and demands of social members, and it provides a scientific answer to the question of how communists should “view issues from a political perspective.” General Secretary Xi Jinping, drawing on the worldview and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, has not only creatively introduced the scientific concept of “political capability” but has also systematically elaborated on its scientific connotations. This represents a comprehensive integration of the distinct political orientation, scientific thinking approach, capability standards, and concrete practical pathways for Chinese communists to “analyze and solve problems from a political standpoint.” It is a concentrated embodiment of the Marxist worldview and methodology at the level of political development. Its core connotations encompass multiple levels—macro, meso, and micro—and span both narrow and broad categories. It covers all levels of Party organizations and Party members and cadres, touches upon various fields and aspects from diverse perspectives, and varies in emphasis and specificity depending on the occasion, target audience, context, time period, and specific issue at hand. This reflects a strong theoretical systematicness, practical relevance, and guiding effectiveness for work.

For example, with a focus on strengthening the Party’s political development, we emphasize the need to “closely align with the people’s hearts—the greatest of all politics—and regard winning the support and trust of the people, pooling their wisdom and strength, as a key priority.” Regarding the implementation of the Party’s political development in the building of the cadre corps, we stress that “we must continuously enhance the ability of leading cadres at all levels—especially senior cadres—to grasp the direction, perceive major trends, and understand the overall situation; to discern right from wrong in political matters; to maintain political composure; to steer the political landscape; and to guard against political risks.” Grounded in the new era and new journey, adapting to global changes, responding to new developments in the work of the Party and the state, and addressing the fresh challenges brought about by evolving circumstances and tasks, we call for strengthening “eight capabilities,” including the capacity for learning and political leadership. Situated within the strategic context of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the unprecedented global transformations of the past century, we demand that leading cadres at all levels—especially senior cadres—must keep in mind “the interests of the country above all else,” continually enhancing their political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution capabilities, and constantly improving their political acumen, strategic vision, and professional competence in grasping the new stage of development, implementing the new development philosophy, and constructing the new development pattern. Focusing on preventing political risks, we underscore the necessity of cultivating sharp political insight, continuously enhancing political sensitivity and discernment, observing and analyzing the situation to identify political factors, planning and promoting work to ensure that political requirements are met, and handling problems and resolving conflicts to effectively guard against political risks.

Political leadership is the most fundamental political capability. It is primarily manifested in the ability to provide political guidance and leadership—centered on upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership and consolidating its long-term ruling status—to correctly formulate and effectively implement the Party’s political program, lines, principles, policies, strategic goals, and tasks; to politically absorb and unite people; to grasp the overall situation and coordinate among all parties; to plan, design, and make decisive decisions; to govern scientifically, democratically, and according to law; and to enhance national governance capacity. Together with ideological guidance, mass organizational capacity, and social mobilization power, political leadership collectively embodies and tests the Party’s political competence and governance level in exercising comprehensive leadership. Upholding and strengthening the Party’s leadership hinges first and foremost on upholding and strengthening its political leadership and enhancing its political leadership capacity. By leveraging robust political leadership, we can elevate ideological guidance, mass organizational capacity, and social mobilization power, continuously improving the Party’s ability to set the right course, keep a broad perspective, formulate sound policies, and promote reform, thereby ensuring that the Party always maintains overall control and coordinates among all parties. To strengthen the Party’s political leadership, the most important task is to regard upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and ensuring its centralized and unified leadership as the primary task of the Party’s political development, and to regard firmly endorsing the “Two Establishments” and resolutely practicing the “Two Safeguards” as the paramount political awareness and capability. At the same time, we must focus both within and beyond the Party, concentrate on the great cause, remain firmly rooted in the Chinese land, and fully leverage the Party’s political advantages, organizational strengths, and close ties with the masses. We must be more proactive, extensive, and effective in organizing, educating, uniting, and serving the masses, thus leading them and rallying the broadest possible masses around the Party, jointly pursuing the great cause of rejuvenation and realizing the grand dream together.

Political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution are the most critical political competencies. In December 2020, while presiding over the democratic life meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly stated: “Our Party must always remain true to its original aspiration and keep its mission firmly in mind, and to ensure that the cause of the Party and the people is carried forward for the long term, we must enhance our political awareness, be adept at viewing issues from a political perspective, and have a keen grasp of the overall political situation, continuously improving our political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution.” This marked the first time that General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed and elaborated specifically on “political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution.” Since then, he has repeatedly emphasized and expounded upon these concepts, profoundly elucidating both the intrinsic essence and internal laws of political competence, while precisely identifying the key elements, crucial links, and essential requirements for enhancing political capability. This provides a scientific guide for clearly, accurately, and effectively upholding and practicing politics.

Political judgment is the starting point for engaging in politics. Cultivating a keen political insight, clearly discerning right from wrong in political matters, and accurately identifying the political direction are the primary requirements for enhancing political competence. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that to strengthen political judgment, we must regard national political security as paramount, the people as the most important consideration, and upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics as the fundamental principle. We must enhance our ability to scientifically grasp changes in the situation, precisely identify the essence of phenomena, clearly distinguish between right and wrong in our actions, and effectively ward off risks and challenges. He emphasized the need to be adept at thinking deeply about fundamental, overall, and long-term issues that affect the overall work of the Party and the country, and to intensify strategic, systematic, and forward-looking research and planning. This means maintaining exceptional clarity of mind and sharpness of vision on major issues and critical junctures, being able to spot political issues even in routine affairs, detecting political signs early on from emerging trends and nascent problems, and grasping the underlying political logic amid intricate and complex contradictions. We must remain steadfast in our political stance and unwavering in our political direction. This calls upon Party members and cadres to continuously improve their political foresight, sensitivity, and discernment, and to excel at observing and analyzing issues from a political perspective, assessing development trends, and identifying the true nature of things. We must clearly distinguish between right and wrong, grasp the broader context and general trends, make accurate judgments, prevent and resolve risks, and ensure that all our work stays firmly on the right track, thereby creating positive political guidance, influence, and outcomes.

Political comprehension is the fundamental basis for engaging in political work, and it is a crucial capability for Party members and cadres to understand and implement the Party’s theoretical guidelines, policies, and the spirit of the Party Central Committee. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that to enhance political comprehension, we must “thoroughly study and fully grasp the spirit of the Party Central Committee, consistently use this spirit to analyze the situation and advance our work, and always maintain a high degree of alignment with the Party Central Committee.” This calls upon Party members and cadres to keep pace with the Party Central Committee’s guiding principles and the important speeches, instructions, and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping, to have a clear understanding of matters of national importance and the Party’s overarching plans, to clearly define and firmly establish their own roles and responsibilities, and to constantly pay attention to what the Party Central Committee cares about and emphasizes. They must be adept at grasping, from a political perspective, the intentions and requirements behind the Party Central Committee’s decisions and deployments; skilled at using scientific theories and the spirit of the Party Central Committee to analyze changes in the situation and tasks, and to plan and promote work accordingly. They must deeply appreciate and correctly interpret the political intentions, strategic judgments, overall planning, far-reaching considerations, and practical requirements underlying the Party Central Committee’s decisions and deployments. Grounded in reality and integrating knowledge across disciplines, they should creatively translate these insights into concrete policies and measures for advancing their work, thereby ensuring that they remain highly aligned—in thought, politics, and action—with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.

Political execution capability is the ultimate touchstone for practicing politics; it directly reflects and ultimately tests one’s political competence. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that enhancing political execution capability means “frequently aligning oneself with the spirit of the Party Central Committee, earnestly ensuring that we resolutely respond to what the Party Central Committee advocates, firmly implement what the Party Central Committee decides, and categorically refrain from doing what the Party Central Committee prohibits. We must unswervingly uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, staying on track, avoiding deviations, and rigorously and thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Party Central Committee.” This calls upon Party members and cadres to integrate the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s spirit into their practice—taking into account the overall situation of the Party and the country’s work and viewing matters from a political perspective—by formulating major strategies, drafting major policies, deploying major tasks, and promoting major undertakings. It also requires them to strengthen their sense of responsibility, be fully aware of their duties, shoulder their responsibilities actively, and put those responsibilities into action. They must ensure rigorous and thorough implementation, act swiftly and decisively, pursue truth and pragmatism in their work, and dare to take initiative and excel in carrying out tasks, thereby guaranteeing that all decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee are effectively put into practice and yield tangible results.

Political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution are both distinct and each has its own emphasis, yet they are also intrinsically linked and mutually conditional. In upholding political principles, they embody the high degree of unity among Marxist standpoints, viewpoints, and methods; they reflect the high degree of unity among "knowing, believing, and acting," as well as among "how to view," "how to think," and "how to act"; and they embody the high degree of unity among political awareness, political stance, political thinking, political capability, and political behavior. Together, they form a logically rigorous, dialectically unified, progressively layered, and mutually supportive whole.

Political self-control and political steadfastness are the most fundamental political competencies. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that young cadres must “consciously strengthen their political experience, enhance their political self-control, and always remain ‘clear-headed’ and ‘honest’ in politics.” To enhance political self-control, we must cultivate political steadfastness, strictly abide by political discipline and rules, and genuinely practice political self-discipline. Political steadfastness is fundamentally reflected in political loyalty, faith, conviction, and confidence—as well as in political consciousness, political self-confidence, and political self-discipline. If one lacks loyalty and honesty toward the Party, if one’s faith, conviction, and confidence are uncertain and unstable, and if one is politically unconscious, unconfident, and undisciplined, then one’s political competence simply cannot be discussed. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the political direction is the paramount issue for the Party’s survival and development, bearing on the Party’s future and destiny as well as the success or failure of its cause. To enhance political competence, we must first grasp the correct political direction, uphold the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and firmly adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and our country’s socialist system. We must regard ideological education on ideals and convictions as a strategic task in ideological building, maintaining the Party’s political steadfastness in pursuing these ideals, and consciously becoming firm believers and loyal practitioners of the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In his speech at the Second Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that under any circumstance and at any time, Party leaders must stand firm and be reliable politically; they must be loyal and honest to the Party, share the same aspirations and sentiments as the Party Central Committee, strictly observe political discipline and rules, continuously strengthen their political steadfastness, disciplinary steadfastness, moral steadfastness, and resistance to corruption, and turn the “Four Consciousnesses” into concrete actions of obeying the Party’s command and fulfilling their duties for the Party. By deeply comprehending these important expositions, we can more clearly recognize that upholding the “Two Upholds” requires not only a high degree of rational and emotional identification but also firm political steadfastness and competence in safeguarding them. Enhancing political competence means not only improving our capacity for political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution, but also strengthening our political self-control, maintaining political steadfastness, and reinforcing political self-discipline—always remaining clear-minded politically, avoiding ideological decline, staying unwavering in our faith, preserving spiritual integrity, and remaining steadfast in our convictions.

To enhance political capability, we should adopt a coordinated approach that integrates “theoretical nourishment,” “party-cultivation,” “practical training,” “cultural enrichment,” and “political check-ups,” continuously strengthening ideological refinement, political experience, practical exercise, professional training, and long-term cultivation.

The awareness and capability to uphold political principles do not come naturally or emerge out of thin air; rather, they must be cultivated and enhanced through long-term tempering, experience, training, and continuous learning, reflection, practice, and deep understanding. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Capability is not something that can be achieved once and for all or overnight—it must be continuously upgraded and constantly expanded.” The Party’s competence and capacity have grown over the long course of unwavering struggle to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, and they have been “continuously upgraded and constantly expanded” in the course of great practice. The political capability of leading cadres at all levels is the result of daily accumulation and sedimentation, the fruit of sustained and painstaking cultivation, the product of being honed through practical engagement, and the outcome of being nurtured by cultural enrichment. All Party organizations at various levels and every Party member and cadre should join forces and act in concert, tapping into the source, nurturing the forest, strengthening the foundation, and continuously forging political integrity—integrity that is pure and of the highest caliber.

Cultivating the Soul and Strengthening the Foundation through “Theoretical Nourishment”: Enhancing Political Competence by Deeply Studying and Grasping the Party’s Innovative Theories. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Learning theory is, in essence, a form of political responsibility and historical responsibility.” Whether it comes to enhancing political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution, or strengthening political self-control and maintaining political composure, the fundamental key lies in intensifying the study of political theory—mastering the basic principles of Marxism as a political telescope and microscope, absorbing political nourishment, solidifying political convictions, deepening political identification, elevating political standing, clearly recognizing the political direction, sharpening political awareness, and reinforcing political consciousness. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must thoroughly understand, grasp, and put into practice the Party’s innovative theories; master the Marxist stance, viewpoint, and methodology; and consolidate the ideological foundation for daring to struggle and being good at struggling. Only when we are theoretically clear can we remain politically firm, and only then will we have the confidence and strength to engage in struggle.” Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, as contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism, fully embodies our Party’s political will, political stance, and political propositions. It serves as a powerful ideological weapon guiding us in transforming both our subjective and objective worlds, enabling us to observe, analyze, and address issues from a political perspective. To enhance political competence, we must persistently use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to unite hearts and forge souls, deeply grasping its political significance, political considerations, and political requirements. We must further strengthen our political faith, draw upon political strength, improve our political literacy, and establish a Marxist worldview, practical outlook, mass perspective, class perspective, development perspective, and contradiction perspective. We must also cultivate a correct view of the world, life, values, power, career, achievements, status, and interests. We must earnestly ensure that we forge our souls through learning, cultivate virtue through learning, enhance wisdom through learning, and empower ourselves through learning. In the integrated process of studying, thinking, and applying, and in the unity of knowing, believing, and acting, we must profoundly comprehend the Party’s nature and purpose, its ideals and beliefs, its program and guidelines, and its policies. We must firmly uphold our faith in Marxism, our conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and our confidence in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We must continuously deepen our political, ideological, theoretical, and emotional identification with the Party’s innovative theories. By achieving ideological unity, we can ensure political unity and action unity, comprehensively enhancing our political competence, leadership capacity, and working ability to adapt to the advancement of Chinese-style modernization.

Strengthening the Foundation through Cultivating Party Spirit: Enhance political competence by engaging in rigorous party spirit cultivation and participating in serious intra-party political life. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “The most fundamental aspect of upholding politics is to uphold party spirit,” and emphasized that “all Party members—especially senior cadres—must intensify their party spirit training, continuously raise their political awareness and capability, regard loyalty to the Party, sharing its worries, fulfilling their duties for the Party, and bringing benefits to the people as their core political responsibilities, and forever preserve the political integrity of communists.” Party spirit cultivation serves as the “ballast stone” for political competence; intra-party political life is the “great crucible” for refining party spirit and represents the fundamental approach and important platform for enhancing political competence. Only when our party spirit is strong can we have a solid foundation for both our awareness and ability to uphold politics; only when the “furnace fire” burns brightly can we forge robust political qualities and capabilities. To enhance political competence, we must regularly carry out party spirit education, Party history education, and Party discipline education; strengthen and standardize intra-party political life; strictly implement the “Several Guidelines on Intra-Party Political Life under New Circumstances”; earnestly hold democratic life meetings and organizational life meetings; improve the quality of the “Three Meetings and One Class”; effectively implement systems such as heart-to-heart talks, democratic evaluations of Party members, and themed Party days; consistently uphold and refine political rituals like revisiting the Party oath and celebrating Party members’ “political birthdays”; further improve and enforce all systems of democratic centralism; fully harness the sharp weapon of criticism and self-criticism; engage in positive and healthy ideological struggles; ensure that intra-party life is solemn, serious, and standardized, reflecting its political nature, timeliness, principled stance, and combativeness; resolutely prevent and overcome tendencies within intra-party political life that lack principles, become bland, vulgar, or arbitrary; and strive to achieve the goals of “blushing and sweating,” “detoxifying and curing illnesses,” “replenishing calcium and strengthening bones,” and “enhancing wisdom and empowering ourselves.”

Honing and Sharpening Through Practical Training: Enhance political competence through rigorous and solid political education, political experience, and practical exercises. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “To enhance political steadfastness and capability, we must rely on learning—but even more so on political experience and practical training.” To become politically astute individuals with strong political capabilities, Party members and leading cadres must intensify their political experience and accumulate rich political expertise. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “A sword is honed on stone; a person is tempered in the crucible of real-world tasks. Without weathering storms and gaining broad life experience, it’s hard to become truly accomplished.” Practice serves as the touchstone for testing political competence and also as the training ground for enhancing it. Major tasks and the front lines of struggle are the primary battlegrounds for examining and honing political abilities. Only by actively engaging in the practice of tackling urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks—by braving storms, gaining diverse experiences, and strengthening our resolve—can we truly hone our political skills through real, hands-on combat, undergo rigorous political training and tests, and emerge stronger and sharper. Only then can we forge an unyielding backbone, shoulder the heaviest burdens with iron-like strength, and acquire genuine competence and capability in assuming political responsibilities. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: “For a long time, our Party has upheld a glorious tradition and fine style: We do whatever the Party asks of us, go wherever the Party sends us, and wherever there is a cause, that becomes our home—with no hesitation and absolutely no complaints.” Party members and cadres should regard vibrant practice as the greatest stage and the finest classroom for enhancing their political competence. In implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, responding to major struggles and emergencies, and accomplishing urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, they must intensify both political experience and professional training, firmly grasp the correct political direction, guard against political risks, carry forward the spirit of struggle, enhance their ability to struggle, and continuously improve their capacity to uphold the “Two Upholds.” Ultimately, enhancing political competence comes down to enhancing our ability to serve the people and advance the cause. We must focus on deeply connecting with the masses and genuinely serving them, thereby understanding and articulating the people’s aspirations and livelihood concerns—the greatest political issue. We must also ground ourselves in our respective posts, pursuing our work with dedication and passion, thus comprehending and putting into practice the overarching political goal of advancing Chinese-style modernization. We must continually enhance our thinking, practical, leadership, professional, and performance capabilities in recognizing and addressing issues from a political and holistic perspective. We must possess the courage and commitment to face the hardships of climbing mountains, overcoming obstacles, and navigating treacherous waters. We should proactively volunteer for important, difficult, and urgent tasks, actively seek out the front lines of major struggles, and willingly take on the heaviest burdens, tackle the toughest challenges, and handle the most sensitive issues. We must dare to be tough and confront tough issues head-on in the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and dare to stand firm and fight back resolutely when safeguarding the nation’s core interests. By doing so, we will enrich our political experience and wisdom, strengthen our political prowess, and bolster our political confidence.

Cultivating and nourishing the source of political capability through “cultural enrichment”: Enhance political competence by fostering a positive and healthy intra-party political culture and nurturing a clean and upright political environment. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Political culture is the soul of political life and exerts a subtle yet profound influence on the political ecosystem.” Since ancient times, China has upheld fine political traditions such as “harmonizing politics with the Way,” “promoting the Way and cultivating integrity,” and “observing human culture to transform the world.” Politics and culture are deeply intertwined and mutually influential. The outstanding traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, advanced socialist culture, and a positive and healthy intra-party political culture—alongside a clean and upright political ecosystem—serve as the sunshine, rain, air, soil, and living waters that permeate and nourish political competence. For instance, among the various elements of political culture, political ideals determine the height of one’s political vision; political beliefs shape the strength of one’s political commitment; political emotions dictate the warmth of one’s political engagement; political character ensures the purity of one’s political conduct; political integrity defines the duration of one’s political reliability; political will reinforces the resilience of one’s political stance; and political values reflect the degree of political advancement. Together, these elements play a vital role in purifying the political ecosystem and cultivating political competence, acting as a source of nourishment and an essential replenishment of vitality. To enhance political competence, we must adhere to the “two integrations,” firmly uphold cultural confidence, strengthen the building of intra-party political culture, and place great emphasis on drawing political wisdom and moral nourishment from China’s outstanding traditional culture. We should also draw upon the red genes embedded in revolutionary culture, advanced socialist culture, and intra-party political culture, drawing spiritual strength, deepening our commitment to the people, and refining our political character. We must promote values such as loyalty and honesty, fairness and integrity, seeking truth from facts, and incorruptibility, ensuring that the political convictions, political ideals, political values, and political spirit championed by the Party deeply take root in the minds and hearts of Party members and cadres, becoming the profound foundation and inner support for their political competence.

Upholding the fundamental principle of “political health checks” as a safeguard: Enhance political competence by deepening political inspections, strengthening political oversight, making political assessments more concrete, and strictly enforcing political discipline. Strengthening political self-restraint and maintaining political steadfastness—ensuring that our politics remain untarnished, unchanged, uncorrupted, and true to its original spirit—is the bottom-line requirement for enhancing political competence. To this end, we must conduct precise, effective, and long-term “political health checks” on a regular basis to perpetually preserve the purity and soundness of our politics. Deepening political inspections, strengthening political oversight, making political assessments more concrete, and strictly enforcing political discipline are not only crucial measures and inevitable requirements for advancing the Party’s self-revolution and reinforcing its political development, but also essential tools and effective methods for conducting these “political health checks.” To enhance political competence, we must deepen political inspections, strengthen political oversight, make political assessments more concrete, and strictly enforce political discipline; we must urge Party organizations at all levels and the vast number of Party members and cadres to uphold the Party’s overall leadership from a high political standpoint, to grasp, reinforce, and implement Party building with rigor in terms of political requirements, to focus and concentrate efforts on comprehensively and deeply advancing strict governance of the Party from a political perspective, and to emphasize political criteria and rigorous political vetting in personnel selection and appointment. Taking the implementation of the “Two Upholds” as the fundamental task of “political health checks,” we must place particular emphasis on intensifying supervision and inspection of the implementation of the Party’s theories, guidelines, policies, major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, and the important instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping. We must also intensify supervision and inspection of studying, observing, and implementing the Party Constitution, Party rules, and Party discipline—especially strict adherence to the Party’s political discipline and political norms—and strengthen institutional safeguards for political oversight, thereby enhancing the political consciousness behind the “Two Upholds.” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must consistently put political standards first, thoroughly and effectively assess the political qualities of cadres, and give special attention to ensuring that they pass the political and integrity tests.” In selecting and appointing personnel, we must rigorously carry out political health checks, strengthen political vetting and assessment of political qualities, constantly maintain political sensitivity and discernment, promptly identify and remove those who are two-faced politically, and ensure the security of the Party’s governance.