Tongfang Academy
Micro Party Class · Issue 342
How the Eight-Point Regulation Has Profoundly Changed China
“Theoretical cultivation is the core of the comprehensive quality of Party members and cadres. Theoretical maturity is the foundation for political maturity, and political steadfastness stems from theoretical clarity.” For Party members and cadres, fostering a fine academic ethos and strengthening theoretical training are both fundamental requirements for cultivating Party spirit and an inescapable political responsibility.
Tongfang Law Firm provides all its lawyers with learning opportunities in the form of micro-party classes, thereby enhancing their ideological and political awareness as well as their spirit of learning and inquiry. By establishing a long-term educational mechanism, the firm has created a new platform for self-education and self-improvement.
The Party Central Committee has decided to launch, throughout the Party, from after the Two Sessions in 2025 through July, an intensive study and education campaign aimed at thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Party’s Eight-Point Regulation. On December 4, 2012, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, during which the “Eight-Point Regulation of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on Improving Work Style and Closely Connecting with the Masses” was reviewed and adopted. This regulation addressed the key questions of what to focus on and how to carry out style-of-work building under the new circumstances, thus promoting comprehensive and strict governance within the Party and driving improvements in Party conduct, government conduct, and social ethos. Looking back at the process of formulating and implementing the Party’s Eight-Point Regulation, deeply studying and comprehending its spirit and the detailed implementation rules is of great significance for enhancing both ideological and practical awareness in earnestly carrying out the study and education campaign on the spirit of the Party’s Eight-Point Regulation, and for advancing the normalization and long-term effectiveness of style-of-work building.
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation is a set of rules established by the leading collective of the 18th Central Committee—it’s “a very important set of rules.”
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation embodies the Party Central Committee’s firm determination to address urgently the salient problems within the Party. Focusing on the new situation and new tasks facing the Party, the Party Central Committee—with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core—has from the very outset firmly grasped the overarching principle of exercising strict governance over the Party in all respects. On November 15, 2012, shortly after being elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping explicitly pointed out that under the new circumstances, our Party’s self-building faces a series of new situations, new problems, and new challenges. The task of ensuring that the Party exercises strict governance over itself has become more arduous and pressing than ever before. Later, during his meeting with Chinese and foreign journalists, General Secretary Xi Jinping further emphasized that under the new circumstances, our Party is confronted with numerous serious challenges and that many pressing issues remain unresolved within the Party. In particular, problems such as corruption, detachment from the masses, formalism, and bureaucratic practices among some Party members and cadres must be tackled with great vigor and determination. On December 4, 2012, General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which reviewed and adopted the Eight-Point Regulation—the first major intra-Party regulation of the new era—thus inaugurating a grand historical process of comprehensively strengthening Party governance in the new era.
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation focuses on addressing the most prominent issues in Party conduct. In the new era, improving work styles poses an extremely daunting task. Over the past period, due to lapses in effective Party governance and lax discipline, formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance have become rampant in some localities and departments, seriously undermining the Party’s image and authority and severely damaging the relationships between the Party and the masses as well as between Party officials and the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that problems in work style are by no means trivial matters. If we fail to resolutely correct these unhealthy tendencies and allow them to fester unchecked, they will gradually build up into an invisible wall that separates our Party from the people, causing our Party to lose its foundation, its lifeblood, and its strength. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee has adhered to a problem-oriented approach, taking the improvement of work styles and closer ties with the masses as the starting point for strengthening Party governance and discipline—thus striking at the principal contradiction and the primary aspect of that contradiction in the effort to enhance Party conduct.
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation serves as both an entry point and a rallying call for strengthening Party governance and discipline in the new era. Although the Eight-Point Regulation appears to address only specific matters—such as improving investigation and research, streamlining meetings and events, reducing the volume of documents and briefings, standardizing overseas visits, enhancing security arrangements, improving news coverage, strictly regulating the publication of official documents, and vigorously promoting thrift and frugality—it tackles directly the most salient problems in work style. Each provision is remarkably clear and constitutes a rigid requirement. By focusing on these seemingly minor aspects, the regulation has achieved significant results. Thus, the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the new era has gotten off to a promising start, profoundly influencing not only the advancement of comprehensive and strict Party governance in the new era but also the development of the Party and the country as a whole. Practice has proven that the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation is entirely correct and genuinely effective. The Eight-Point Regulation has become a landmark initiative that has transformed the political landscape and reshaped society in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping remarked: “Once the first step of the Eight-Point Regulation is taken, the entire edifice of work style improvement comes alive.”
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation addresses the crucial questions of what to focus on and how to carry out style-of-work building under the new circumstances. Without rules, nothing can be properly organized or accomplished. Upholding Party governance based on systems and regulations has been a key approach to comprehensively enforcing strict Party discipline since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, and it represents an important experience that has enabled comprehensive and strict Party governance to achieve remarkable results in the new era. To govern the Party according to regulations means, first and foremost, establishing, strictly enforcing, and rigorously implementing discipline and rules—and the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation has played a vital role as a model and benchmark in this regard. When presiding over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to review the Eight-Point Regulation, General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear from the outset that “the new central leadership collective must set rules,” and he described the Eight-Point Regulation itself as “a very important rule.” Guided by Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the CPC Central Committee has directly confronted various problems and malpractices within the Party. By initiating reform and addressing issues through the formulation and implementation of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation, it has established and enforced various disciplines and rules, thereby promoting improvements in Party conduct, government conduct, and social ethos. This has further enriched and developed Marxist theory on Party building and deepened our understanding of the laws governing Party construction.
The guiding principle of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation is strict and rigorous requirements, reflecting the Party’s commitment to governing itself and exercising strict governance over the Party.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party hinges on being comprehensive in scope, stringent in approach, and effective in governance. He emphasized that “strictness” means genuinely managing with rigor, daring to manage with rigor, and maintaining rigorous management over the long term. The overarching tone of strictness has consistently permeated all aspects and the entire process of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the new era, as vividly reflected in the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation. When presiding over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to review the Eight-Point Regulation, General Secretary Xi Jinping provided profound answers to a series of major questions concerning the formulation and implementation of this regulation.
Regarding the guiding ideology behind formulating the Eight-Point Regulations, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the guiding principle for establishing these rules is strictness—reflecting the Party’s commitment to governing itself and exercising strict governance over itself.
Regarding the standards to be adopted for the Eight-Point Regulation, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that since we’re setting these rules, we must strive for even stricter standards and take them seriously. He pointed out incisively that regulations that are lukewarm or merely superficial—those that lack real substance and fail to translate into concrete actions—are nothing but empty slogans; it’s better not to make such regulations at all. Initially, some provisions were worded in terms of “generally” complying with certain requirements. To ensure that every single regulation becomes an ironclad, unyielding rule, they were all revised during the Central Politburo meetings to read “一律”—with no exceptions whatsoever. As for whether to add the word “trial” after the regulations, General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear: Regulations are regulations—by omitting the word “trial,” we’re sending a firm and resolute message that these regulations are rigid and binding.
Regarding the question of whether cadres feel uncomfortable now that the eight-point regulations have been tightened, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must be a little more uncomfortable and a little less at ease. The more uncomfortable and less at ease we ourselves are, the more comfortable and satisfied the people will be, and the better they’ll feel about us.” He also explicitly stated that these stringent requirements and high standards should be taken as a new image and new atmosphere for Party governance in the new era.
General Secretary Xi Jinping further elevated the guiding principle of strictness and stringent standards to become the overarching requirement for formulating disciplinary rules and regulations. He emphasized that when setting rules, we must not only enforce those matters already clearly regulated, but also constrain those that do not conform to existing norms, and standardize those areas that currently lack any established guidelines. Since rules are meant to exert a binding effect, they must be enforced more rigorously.
We must adhere to the guiding principle and stringent standards of strictness throughout the entire process of implementing the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation in the new era. After the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation was formulated, various regions and departments have also introduced corresponding requirements for improving work styles, all of which similarly embody the rigorous demands and high standards. This fully demonstrates the Party’s firm resolve to govern itself strictly and enforce discipline rigorously, and has played a crucial guiding role in shaping Party conduct, government conduct, and even the overall social ethos.
The Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation starts with the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and is promoted from top to bottom.
After the issuance of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation, whether it can achieve the desired outcomes hinges critically on how well the regulation is implemented and enforced. General Secretary Xi Jinping has explicitly stated that efforts to build a clean and honest Party must start with leading cadres, and among these, leading cadres at the central level must take the lead. As the saying goes, “If one’s own conduct is not upright, how can one expect others to be upright?” The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee has taken the initiative to improve its work style and strictly enforce the Eight-Point Regulation, setting an exemplary example through its own actions and leading by example from top to bottom—each level guiding and influencing the next. This approach has become a crucial experience in promoting the thorough implementation of the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation from top to bottom and achieving remarkable results.
The spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation emphasizes starting with the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and promoting implementation from top to bottom—a guiding principle that has been clearly articulated from the very outset by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in strengthening Party governance and discipline. As early as the first meeting of the Standing Committee of the 18th CPC Central Committee’s Political Bureau and the first meeting of the CPC Central Committee’s Political Bureau, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the key to building a clean and honest Party lies in leading cadres, especially the central authorities, which must take the lead.
We must set an example by first practicing what we ask of others and by refraining from doing what we forbid others to do. We should take the lead in opposing corruption, strictly abide by all regulations on integrity and self-discipline, and conscientiously comply with the central authorities’ rules regarding work and living standards. We must take the initiative to carry forward and promote the Party’s fine traditions and work styles. We should spearhead efforts to improve writing styles and meeting practices, as well as to streamline and simplify our work in areas such as research and overseas visits, and to enhance and simplify news reporting. When conducting field investigations at the grassroots level, we should closely integrate these efforts with our regular duties, actively explore effective ways to connect deeply with the masses, travel lightly and simply, avoid disturbing the local residents, refrain from superficial displays, reject formalism, and eschew excessive feasting and drinking. During the review of the Eight-Point Regulation at the meetings of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping further emphasized that once the regulation is formulated, everyone must study it thoroughly and put it into practice. He stressed that by setting an example and making clear demands ourselves, we are heading in the right direction—this approach not only meets our need to strengthen the building of the ruling party but also aligns with the expectations the people have of us. At the democratic life meetings of the Political Bureau, General Secretary Xi Jinping called on members of the Political Bureau to carefully compare themselves against the newly revised Implementation Rules for the Eight-Point Regulation, meticulously aligning their actions with each provision, ensuring strict compliance without any compromise. In particular, we must focus on tackling the persistent problems of formalism and bureaucratic practices, and take the lead in promoting the Party’s fine traditions and work styles.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has set a shining example for the entire Party by leading by example, setting a high standard for himself, and personally putting into practice the Eight-Point Regulation. On December 5, 2012—the day after the Politburo meeting had reviewed and approved the Eight-Point Regulation—General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the headquarters of the Second Artillery Corps and specifically instructed that roads should not be blocked and that travel should be kept simple and unencumbered. Later, during his first trip out of Beijing to Guangdong for inspection, General Secretary Xi again made it clear that no special detours should be arranged, no roads should be closed, and no disturbance should be caused to local residents. There were no welcome banners, no layers of escorts, and the vehicle he rode in traveled side by side with buses, taxis, and private cars, following traffic signals exactly as they appeared. General Secretary Xi acted swiftly and decisively, setting an exemplary model for the entire Party in implementing the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation and strengthening conduct and work style. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, whether attending meetings and events, conducting inspections and research, or making overseas visits, General Secretary Xi has personally reviewed and rigorously scrutinized all relevant arrangements, urging relevant parties to implement the requirements of the Eight-Point Regulation fully and without compromise. When visiting troops, General Secretary Xi has insisted that no special treatment be given; ideally, he would eat at the soldiers’ mess hall and partake of whatever food the soldiers eat. During his visit to the ship 171, General Secretary Xi dined in the sailors’ mess hall, personally carrying his own tray and joining the soldiers in line to get food. They sat together at one table, chatting casually and warmly throughout the meal—a perfect opportunity for him to gain firsthand insights into the daily lives of officers and soldiers and carry out thorough investigations and studies. With his exemplary actions, General Secretary Xi has fulfilled the solemn commitment that党风廉政建设 (building a clean and honest government) must start with leading cadres, that leading cadres must start with central leaders, and that members of the Political Bureau must start with themselves, thus setting a benchmark and serving as a role model for the entire Party.
Unswervingly implement the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation.
The vitality of a system lies in its implementation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must make great efforts to establish systems and set rules, but even more so, we must devote substantial energy to ensuring their effective implementation and enforcement. If a good system is not put into practice—simply remaining on paper, posted on walls, or locked away in drawers—it will become nothing more than a scarecrow or a paper tiger. The remarkable practical effectiveness of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulations in promoting comprehensive and strict governance and improving work style in the new era is closely linked to the Party Central Committee’s unwavering commitment and persistent efforts to ensure thorough implementation with the spirit of driving nails home.
When presiding over the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to deliberate on the Eight-Point Regulation, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the most important thing is to ensure thorough implementation—keeping our promises and delivering results. What we say must not be mere empty rhetoric; once we make a promise, we must see it through and turn every word written in the documents into concrete actions. He emphasized that the purpose of formulating these regulations is not for show or to gain fame and recognition, but rather to act with sincerity and integrity. Consistently and tirelessly ensuring the effective implementation of the spirit of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation and its detailed rules has become the overarching guiding principle for comprehensively strengthening Party governance and improving work style in the new era.
Problems in work style are recurrent and deeply entrenched. Strengthening work style is a long-term, complex, and arduous task that cannot be accomplished overnight or in one single effort. It certainly cannot be a fleeting fad—once it starts, it must keep going. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that implementing the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation is both a tough battle and a protracted struggle. He stressed that the Eight-Point Regulation is not meant to be enforced for just five or ten years; rather, it must be upheld over the long term. We must demonstrate perseverance and resilience, continuing to focus on consistency and sustainability, rigor and practicality, depth and meticulousness—cultivating habits through disciplined management and achieving tangible results, turning good practices into common norms. General Secretary Xi Jinping regards the formulation and implementation of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation as a crucial step taken by our Party in the new era to establish trust through concrete actions. He pointed out that although tackling the implementation of the Eight-Point Regulation may seem like a small matter, it embodies a profound spirit. If we can’t even get the Eight-Point Regulation right and sustain it, what’s the point of introducing eighteen or twenty-eight additional regulations? To tackle the “Four Winds,” we must first get the Eight-Point Regulation right. When strengthening Party building, we must start with addressing the “Four Winds.” After successfully handling one issue, we should move on to the next, letting everyone see that we are capable of getting things done—and that we take our responsibilities seriously. Only in this way can we earn the trust of the people and of the entire Party. Issuing the Eight-Point Regulation is merely the beginning, just the first step toward solving the problem. Much more work remains to be done. We must carry forward the spirit of leaving clear footprints wherever we tread and leaving indelible marks wherever we grip firmly. We must see each task through to completion, ensuring that our efforts are both well-planned and effectively executed, avoiding half-hearted or superficial approaches. Let the entire Party and all the people serve as watchdogs, continuously witnessing real and tangible results and changes.
To better implement the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation, General Secretary Xi Jinping, while presiding over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to review the Eight-Point Regulation, further put forward clear requirements for refining and perfecting the detailed rules. He called for specific, detailed implementation plans to be developed for security, news coverage, secretarial work, internal affairs, and foreign affairs. This has played an important role in ensuring the effective implementation of the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation. On October 27, 2017—three days after the conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the CPC—General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired the first meeting of the 19th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and reviewed and adopted the “Detailed Implementation Rules for the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau’s Implementation of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation.” The revised implementation rules, taking into account new situations and issues encountered during the past several years of implementing the Eight-Point Regulation, place particular emphasis on further standardizing and refining aspects such as improving investigation and research, streamlining meetings and events, reducing the volume of documents and briefings, regulating overseas visits, enhancing news reporting, and practicing strict economy and frugality. These revisions make the rules more closely aligned with actual working conditions and enhance their guiding and operational effectiveness. On October 25, 2022—three days after the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the CPC—General Secretary Xi Jinping again chaired the first meeting of the 20th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and reviewed and adopted the “Detailed Implementation Rules for the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau’s Implementation of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation.” He emphasized that the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation must always be treated as a long-term, ironclad rule and an unshakable benchmark. It is essential to focus on leading by example among the “key few,” continuously deepen efforts to address the “Four Winds,” with special attention paid to combating formalism and bureaucratic practices, resolutely uprooting privileged thinking and behavior, and driving the entire Party to firmly implement the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation. By consistently focusing on the issue of the detailed implementation rules at such important occasions and critical junctures, the Party Central Committee sends a strong message of its unwavering determination and firm resolve to persistently implement the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation and further deepen style-of-work building.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, at every annual plenary session of the CPC Central Committee, plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Central Economic Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward clear requirements for strengthening work style. Each year, at the meetings of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on democratic life, General Secretary Xi Jinping listens to reports on the implementation of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation and conducts both criticism and self-criticism. Whenever centralized educational campaigns are launched within the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping invariably sets forth clear demands for improving work styles and strengthening ties with the masses.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee have taken the lead in setting rules and setting an example. They kicked off their efforts by formulating and implementing the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation, closely focusing on the most pressing issues that the public deeply despises and strongly voices concern about. They tackled these problems one by one, year after year without letting up, adopting a “nailing down” approach to rectify the “Four Winds.” They have firmly opposed privileged thinking and privileged practices, putting an end to longstanding unhealthy trends that had long resisted correction and eradicating stubborn, chronic maladies that had persisted for years. Through this new momentum in style-building, they have won the trust and support of the people. According to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2024, 94.9% of respondents expressed positive approval of the effectiveness of implementing the spirit of the Central Government’s Eight-Point Regulation. Thanks to the revolutionary forging of comprehensive and strict governance under the new era, conditions characterized by lax discipline and superficial work styles have significantly improved. An atmosphere of genuine management and strict enforcement—where officials dare to manage and are truly strict—has basically taken shape. As a result, Party conduct and government conduct have been completely renewed, social ethos and public morale have continued to improve, and the Party’s image among the people has been reshaped. This has provided strong guarantees for achieving historic accomplishments and undergoing historic transformations in the cause of the Party and the country in the new era.
At the same time, we must also clearly recognize that, in the face of new situations and new tasks in this new era and on this new journey, strengthening work style development and ensuring the thorough implementation of the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation are ongoing processes with no end in sight. We must fully appreciate the significance of carrying out in-depth study and education on the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation throughout the Party. We should thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks on strengthening Party work style development, as well as the spirit of the Central Committee’s Eight-Point Regulation and its detailed implementation rules. We must earnestly align our thinking and actions with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, carry out this study and education rigorously, and use new achievements in work style development to provide strong guarantees for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-style modernization.
Source | People's Daily Online, Official Website for Party History Study and Education
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 343: Enhancing the Authority and Enforcement of Party Regulations
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