China’s 20th Party Congress and ‘Party Building’ Project

The National Congresses of the Communist Party of China (hereafter Party Congress) are very important events in the politics of the People’s Republic of China held at the interval of five years. The 20th Party Congress began in Beijing on 16 October 2022 and will be concluded by 22 October 2022. From more than 96 million Party members, a total of 2,296 delegates have been elected to attend the 20th Party Congress. The delegates represent 4.9 million primary-level organisations of the Party. The process to elect new CPC Central Committee and new CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) during the Party Congress has begun.[i] The 20th Party Congress of China is all set to: amend the Party’s Constitution besides endorsing a record third term for President Xi Jinping; select a leadership team to lead and govern the country for next five years and: announce goals/tasks for China’s development in the next five years and beyond.To get more news about china party congress 2022, you can visit shine news official website.

In his report to Party Congress on 16 October 2022, President Xi termed the work over the past five years (since the 19th Party Congress) as “truly momentous and extraordinary”. He noted that the overall leadership of the Party and the “centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee” have been strengthened.[ii] In this background, the objective of the paper is to briefly analyse China’s political campaigns, especially those related to building the Party and the Chinese model of governance in the context of the ongoing Party Congress.

Party building

While addressing the 20th Party Congress on 16 October 2022, President Xi stated that notable advances have been made in the “great new project of Party building”.[iii] The “great project of Party building” has been a major highlight of Chinese politics since the 18th Party Congress in 2012.[iv] Extensive ideological campaigns were followed with the goal to strengthen the Party and promote loyalty to the Party, centered on President Xi who emerged as “core” of the ruling party. The process of Party building was highlighted in the last Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC (October 2017) where the announcement about “embarking on the new great project in Party building” was made.

Party documents over the past few years have highlighted the need to advance the “great project” of “Party building” and promote the “great cause” of socialism with Chinese characteristics to withstand “Four tests” and overcome “Four kinds of dangers”. [v] The four tests refer to the following: (a) test of the CPC as the ruling party (b) test of reform and opening up (c) market economy test and (d) test in the external environment. The “four dangers” are lost vitality, insufficient capacity, alienation from the people, and rampant corruption.[vi] The Party building project is aimed to highlight the importance of Chinese model of governance and to overcome all the challenges facing the Party.

Anti-corruption campaign has been a major highlight, especially since the 18th Party Congress. The Party has stressed that “corruption is the greatest threat to the Party’s long-term governance. The fight against corruption is a major political struggle that the Party cannot and must not lose”.[vii] President Xi, in his report to the 20th Party Congress (on 16 October 2022) talked about greater efficiency in fighting corruption during the last 10 years. However, there has also been a perception that this campaign is politically motivated and has been used to neutralize or penalize some factions/groups within the Party. The anti- corruption campaign of the Party as well as the project of party building is likely to be pursued with greater vigour not only in domestic context but also in foreign policy apparatus.

Upholding the authority of the CPC Central Committee and strengthening Party leadership in foreign affairs has also been an agenda of the Party. President Xi’s speech at the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in June 2018 gave a clear guidance in this regard. While addressing the Conference, Xi called for “a strong contingent of foreign affairs personnel that are loyal to the CPC, the country and the people…”. He also noted the importance of “enhancing the party-building in institutions abroad so as to form a management mechanism catering to the requirements of the new era”.[viii] These political guidelines have been carried out over the years in the foreign policy domain. Xi Jinping’s report to the 20th Party Congress indicates that there will be greater promotion of Chinese model of governance by the Party in coming years.