Tongfang Academy
Micro Party Class · Issue 274
Harness the role of the Party Constitution as the general charter for governing and managing the Party.
“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 Constitution is the Party’s fundamental law, serving as the overarching basis for comprehensively enforcing strict Party governance, the general rule governing the conduct and words of all Party members, and the fundamental reference for disciplinary inspection bodies in performing their duties and responsibilities. At present, as we carry out Party discipline study and education throughout the Party, it is essential to firmly establish awareness of the Party Constitution and more consciously study, abide by, implement, and safeguard it. For our Party to fulfill its missions and tasks at different historical stages, we must forge ourselves with ironclad discipline into a solid, unbreakable steel—invincible in battle and capable of overcoming any obstacle—thus surmounting all difficulties and dangers, forever staying at the forefront of the times, and using great self-revolution to lead great social revolution.
The Party Constitution is the Party’s fundamental charter, providing the basic guidelines for unifying the Party’s thinking and actions.
As the Party’s fundamental charter, the Party Constitution embodies in a concentrated manner the Party’s nature and purpose, its guiding theories, lines, principles, and policies, as well as its key propositions. It establishes the Party’s essential institutions and institutional mechanisms, serving as the fundamental code of conduct that all Party members must jointly abide by. The Party Constitution embodies in a concentrated way the Party’s fundamental political aspirations and core disciplinary requirements, and it provides the cornerstone for ensuring ideological unity, organizational unity, volitional unity, and action unity across the entire Party. Throughout history, the Party Constitution has consistently centered on the major themes of each era, reflected the significant issues of the times, and addressed the critical challenges facing our times, thereby mirroring the new missions, new tasks, and new demands arising from the Party and the people’s cause at different historical stages. It is precisely the Party’s lofty ideals and convictions that inspire countless Party members to gather from all corners of the country under the Party’s banner, voluntarily aligning their hearts with the Party, willingly walking alongside the Party, and devoting their entire lives to tackling the major challenges confronting our nation and our people.
In July 1921, at the Party’s First National Congress, the Communist Party of China adopted its first program. The very first article stated: “Our Party shall be named the Communist Party of China,” thereby defining the CPC as an advanced and pure Marxist political party. A Marxist political party is a political organization that “serves the interests of the overwhelming majority of people” and requires its members to fuse their “small selves” into the “great self” embodied in the Party’s ideals, beliefs, and purposes. At the Seventh National Congress, Mao Zedong Thought was incorporated into the Party Constitution, stipulating that the CPC should take Mao Zedong Thought “as the guiding principle for all its work.” At the Fifteenth National Congress, Deng Xiaoping Theory was established as the Party’s guiding ideology in the Party Constitution. At the Sixteenth National Congress, the Important Thought of the Three Represents was enshrined as the Party’s guiding ideology in the Party Constitution. At the Eighteenth National Congress, the Scientific Outlook on Development was established as the Party’s guiding ideology in the Party Constitution. At the Nineteenth National Congress, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was enshrined as the Party’s guiding ideology in the Party Constitution. At the Twentieth National Congress, in response to new situations and new tasks, the Party Constitution was appropriately amended, setting forth clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership, adhering to and improving Party building, and promoting the Party’s self-revolution. Moreover, necessary additions were made to the sections on Party discipline and the Party’s disciplinary inspection organs. Over the past century-plus of its development, the Party Constitution has ensured that the Party’s guiding ideology keeps pace with the times, clearly recording the Party’s journey through different historical periods and confronting various major issues of our era. By leveraging the institutional advantages of democratic centralism and its organizational strengths—characterized by tight organization and strict discipline—the Party has boldly promoted its self-revolution, pooling the wisdom and strength of the entire Party to unite and lead the Chinese people in successfully addressing each major issue of our time.
Constantly strengthening awareness of the Party Constitution is not only the due obligation and solemn responsibility of every Communist Party member, but also the fundamental guarantee for preserving the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and for building the Party into a Marxist ruling party that always remains at the forefront of the times, enjoys the heartfelt support of the people, dares to carry out self-revolution, can withstand all kinds of trials and tribulations, and brims with vigor and vitality.
The Party Constitution is the overarching basis for comprehensively enforcing strict Party governance and the fundamental guideline for strengthening the building of internal Party regulations and systems.
The Communist Party of China is a Marxist political party characterized by strict discipline. From the very moment of its founding, it has attached great importance to upholding party discipline through its Party Constitution. For instance, the First National Congress of the CPC adopted a program containing numerous provisions related to discipline; the Second National Congress incorporated a dedicated chapter on discipline into its Party Constitution; the Fifth National Congress established a specialized body for inspecting party discipline within the Party Constitution; the Sixth National Congress explicitly enshrined democratic centralism as the organizational principle of the Party; and the Seventh National Congress provided a clear explanation of the specific implications of democratic centralism and formally established the “Four Obediences” as the Party’s organizational discipline. At the 19th National Congress, disciplinary development was integrated into the overall framework for Party building in the new era, and the Party Constitution was enriched and refined to further enhance its provisions on disciplinary development. Over the past century and more, every rule and regulation governing the Party’s founding, governance, and administration have originated directly from the Party Constitution. Thus, the history of the Party Constitution’s evolution is also a history of the Party’s disciplinary development. The Constitution of the Communist Party of China clearly defines the concept of party discipline: “Party discipline refers to the rules of conduct that all Party organizations at various levels and all Party members must observe—a guarantee for maintaining the Party’s unity and solidarity and for accomplishing the Party’s tasks.” It also specifies the Party’s “Six Major Disciplines,” namely political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, mass discipline, work discipline, and lifestyle discipline. The content of the Party Constitution is fundamental in nature, comprehensively reflecting the Party’s fundamental will, core purpose, and deepest convictions. It fundamentally governs the Party’s leadership and Party-building activities, serving as the highest-ranking and most authoritative internal regulation within the Party. Within the system of internal Party regulations and rules, there exist various regulations applicable to different levels, scopes, and target groups. Among these, the Party Constitution occupies the highest level in this hierarchical system of norms and serves as the fundamental behavioral standard upon which other internal Party regulations and rules are based and founded.
Party regulations serve as an important vehicle for institutionalizing and legalizing the Party’s discipline. All party regulations and systems other than the Party Constitution are concrete measures designed to implement the spirit and requirements of the Party Constitution. The Party Constitution is the Party’s fundamental law, and the formulation of any party regulation or system must strictly adhere to its provisions as the guiding principle. According to the "Regulations on the Formulation of Party Regulations of the Communist Party of China," when drafting party regulations, it is imperative to rigorously follow the hierarchy of legal effect; among these requirements, the first and foremost is that "the Party Constitution has the highest legal authority among party regulations, and no other party regulation may contradict it." Furthermore, the "Regulations on Filing and Review of Party Regulations and Normative Documents of the Communist Party of China" explicitly stipulates that if a party regulation or normative document falls into any of the following categories, the reviewing authority shall refuse to approve its filing and require the submitting authority to make corrections. Among these, "violating the Party Constitution, the Party’s theories, and its guidelines, policies, and principles" ranks as the very first category. This clearly demonstrates that both the formulation and implementation of party regulations and normative documents must strictly comply with all provisions of the Party Constitution. The implementation of the Party Constitution must be concretely reflected in party regulations at various levels. To effectively carry out the Party Constitution, advance comprehensive and strict governance within the Party, and ensure sustained progress, we must rely on a systematic and well-rounded party regulatory framework. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must "take the Party Constitution as the fundamental guide, adhering to the principles of thoroughness in accordance with the law and effectiveness in practice, to formulate new regulations and systems, improve existing ones, abolish those that no longer fit the situation, and further refine the Party’s internal rules and regulations, thereby tightening the cage of Party discipline and rules." Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee—with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core—has consistently upheld governance by rules and regulations, attached great importance to the building of the Party’s regulatory system, and promoted the establishment of a relatively complete system of party regulations. The CPC Central Committee has successively issued the "Five-Year Plan Outline for the Formulation of Central Party Regulations (2013–2017)," the "Second Five-Year Plan for the Formulation of Central Party Regulations (2018–2022)," and the "Plan Outline for the Formulation of Central Party Regulations (2023–2027)," gradually improving the work of clearing, amending, and formulating party regulations. From a top-level design perspective, these plans have accelerated efforts to address shortcomings in the construction of the Party’s regulatory system, continuously transforming practical experiences in Party building into disciplinary norms, providing institutional safeguards for comprehensively strengthening Party governance, converting institutional advantages into governance effectiveness, and promoting the all-round development of the Party and the country.
Bravely shoulder the mission and tasks on the path to national rejuvenation.
Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times.
From the moment of its founding, the Communist Party of China has taken as its historical mission the pursuit of happiness for the people and the rejuvenation of the nation. For over a century, the Party’s central theme of struggle has been to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The Communist Party of China is the core force leading our cause.
The reason why the Chinese people and the Chinese nation have been able to reverse their historical fate since modern times and achieve today’s great accomplishments lies fundamentally in the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China.
History and reality have proven that without the Communist Party of China, there would be no New China, and no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
As we enter a new era, we are closer than at any other time in history to achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation—and we have greater confidence and capability than ever before to do so. However, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will by no means come easily or without effort; it will require even more arduous and painstaking endeavors.
Under the scientific guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on Party building, our Party has deeply recognized the decisive role of the new Great Project of Party building within the “Four Greats.” We remain unwavering in upholding and improving the Party’s leadership, and steadfastly strive to make the Party stronger and more powerful. Together with the people, we effectively respond to major challenges, ward off major risks, overcome major obstacles, and resolve major contradictions, thereby propelling the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation into an irreversible historical process.
The Party Constitution is the overarching set of rules governing the words and actions of all Party members; we must use the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and Party discipline to guide every word and deed of our own.
The Party Constitution, in the form of explicit provisions, defines the powers and responsibilities, rights and obligations of Party organizations and members, as well as the liabilities to be borne for any violation of these obligations. It is the most fundamental, most important, and most comprehensive code of conduct that all Party organizations at various levels and all Party members must abide by. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “When assessing the performance of Party organizations and members and cadres at all levels, we must take the Party Constitution as the basic standard.” Ideology determines action, and motivation determines behavior. The Party Constitution provides stable and reliable guidance for Party organizations at all levels and all Party members, clearly specifying which actions are permissible, which are mandatory, and which are strictly prohibited. Moreover, the Party Constitution enables a qualitative assessment of whether the existing behaviors already undertaken by Party organizations at all levels and all Party members constitute violations of Party rules and discipline. Based on the provisions of the Party Constitution, Party organizations at all levels and all Party members can predict whether their planned actions will comply with the law and regulations. Ideal beliefs and principles are the political soul of Communists, consistently embodied throughout the Party Constitution. We must educate all Party members to use the Party Constitution as a mirror for self-reflection, as a measuring rod for self-discipline, and as a standard for their conduct, strictly adhering to Party rules and discipline in both work and life. We must remain true to our original aspirations, stay committed to our mission, and tirelessly strive for the cause of communism forever.
Lenin once pointed out, “The heart of a communist is, at the very least, half-lived in the future,” meaning that communists should possess lofty spiritual aspirations and a noble spiritual realm. Faith and conviction are crucial at all times. Addressing the issue of some Party members whose “main switch” has become loose—leading to loss of faith, lack of conviction, and erosion of confidence—General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The wavering of ideals and beliefs is the most dangerous kind of wavering; the slide in ideals and beliefs is the most dangerous kind of slide.” All Communist Party members must earnestly study the Party Constitution, strictly abide by it, uphold the spiritual backbone of communists, forge the iron will and unyielding resolve of communists, and build an impregnable fortress of unwavering faith. The Party Constitution records the oath taken by every Party member upon joining the Party; strict adherence to this oath is the most basic and fundamental standard and bottom line for every Party member. Party rules and discipline are stricter than national laws. Party members not only enjoy no special privileges but, from the moment they submit their application to join the Party, are already obligated to shoulder greater responsibilities than ordinary citizens. Once an applicant completes the oath-taking ceremony and becomes a probationary Party member, he or she undergoes a transformative journey—from being an ordinary citizen to becoming a Communist Party member. Article 6 of the Party Constitution stipulates that probationary Party members must take the oath of admission facing the Party flag. The words used in the oath—such as “voluntary,” “uphold,” “obey,” “fulfill,” “implement,” “strictly observe,” “safeguard,” “loyal,” “active,” “strive,” and “sacrifice”—all express firm determination and demonstrate that this normative provision of the Party oath carries a strong disciplinary undertone. From the moment a Party member joins the Party organization, he or she must consciously submit to the constraints of the Party Constitution. This is the most fundamental requirement for a Party member: to be trustworthy in word and deed, to abide by the Party’s rules and discipline, and to honor every pledge made.
Serious study of and strict adherence to the Party Constitution is a fundamental and ongoing task for strengthening Party building, as well as a basic skill that all Party members must master. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The level at which the entire Party studies and implements the Party Constitution determines the level of Party spirit cultivation among Party members, determines the cohesion and combat effectiveness of Party organizations at all levels, and determines the overall standard of comprehensively enforcing strict Party governance.” We should take this opportunity of launching Party discipline education and learning throughout the Party to encourage all Party members to always hold the Party Constitution in high esteem and firmly uphold it, truly internalizing the Party Constitution in their hearts and putting it into practice in their actions. We must continuously enhance our political resolve, disciplinary resolve, moral resolve, and resistance to corruption, and always remain loyal, clean, and accountable.
Source | People's Daily Online, Official Website for Party History Study and Education
Prev:
Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 275: Strict Discipline Is the Party’s Glorious Tradition and Unique Advantage
Next:
Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 273: Deeply Understanding the Significant Importance of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Thoughts on Party Building
