Strengthen the functions of local party committees (study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party)

Yin Li

Local party committees are an important link in our party’s organizational structure, and the Party Central Committee has always attached great importance to the functional construction of local party committees. The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues on Persistently Promoting Comprehensive and Strict Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision") adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly calls for "strengthening the functions of local party committees" as an important part of building a strict organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and has strong execution, and specific arrangements are made. We must improve our ideological understanding, study and understand it carefully, and implement it comprehensively.

1. Deeply understand the important role of local party committees in the overall work of the party and the state

The local party committee system is an important organizational system for our party to govern the country. Improving this system is an important aspect of promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities. Since the reform and opening up, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to the work of local party committees. In 1996 and 2015, it issued the "Regulations on the Work of Local Committees of the Communist Party of China (Trial)" and the "Regulations on the Work of Local Committees of the Communist Party of China" respectively. This time the "Decision" clearly stated that the regulations will be revised. As of the end of 2025, there were 3,202 local party committees at all levels across the country, including 31 provincial (regional, municipal) committees, 396 municipal (state) committees, and 2,775 county (city, district, banner) committees. In the new era and new journey, we must stand at the height of the strategic overall situation and deeply understand the significance of strengthening the functions of local party committees.

(1) Local party committees are the “middle section” in implementing the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee. Our party is composed of central organizations, local organizations, and grassroots organizations. Local party committees belong to the party’s local organizations and play a central role in implementing the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee. In their work, local Party committees must resolutely obey the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, implement the Party Central Committee's lines, principles and policies to the letter, and be non-biased, non-conforming, and unconventional; they must lead the construction of the party's organizational system in the region, strengthen the construction of grassroots party organizations and party members, implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee to the front line of work, and ensure that the party organizations and the majority of party members and cadres are always highly consistent in ideology, politics and actions with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. Practice has proved that the party's organizations at all levels are an organic whole. Only when local party committees effectively play their roles can the party's organizations at all levels be strong and operate smoothly, ensuring the smooth flow of government orders and the implementation of prohibitions.

(2) The local party committee plays a leading role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties in the region. Local party committees occupy a leading position among organizations at the same level. Taking charge of the overall situation means based on long-term development and the fundamental interests of the people, comprehensively strengthening the leadership of the work in the region, concentrating on studying and solving major issues related to the overall, strategic, and forward-looking aspects of local construction, preventing one from losing sight of the other, and seizing the development initiative; coordinating all parties means supporting and ensuring that local people's congresses, governments, CPPCC, supervisory committees, courts, procuratorates, and people's organizations, etc., carry out their work independently, responsibly, and in a coordinated manner in accordance with the law and charters. The two are complementary and inseparable. Only when the Party's local committees give full play to their leadership role can they fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all aspects of society, effectively transform the Party's political and organizational advantages into local governance effectiveness, and ensure that the Party's leadership runs through the entire process of all aspects of local governance.

(3) Local party committees bear the major responsibility of organizing and promoting Chinese-style modernization in their regions. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made it clear that the central task of the entire party in the new era and new journey is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups in the country to comprehensively build a modern and powerful socialist country, achieve the second centenary goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization. This is an unprecedented and pioneering undertaking, with unprecedented arduousness and complexity. To achieve modernization with a huge population, modernization with common prosperity for all people, modernization with harmonious material and spiritual civilization, modernization with harmonious symbiosis between man and nature, and modernization that follows the path of peaceful development, we need to properly handle a series of major relationships between top-level design and practical exploration, strategy and tactics, integrity and innovation, etc. Local party committees are on the front line of promoting Chinese-style modernization. They must fully implement the party's basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy, consciously benchmark and implement the strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee, actively and proactively carry out work based on reality, effectively solve various contradictions and problems encountered in modernization, constantly improve the quality and level of economic and social development, and contribute to national modernization through one-region-one-area modernization.

(4) Local party committees are fully responsible for party building in their regions. Local party committees are not only the leaders of party management in the region, but also the organizers and promoters of party building work. They bear the important responsibilities of improving the organizational system, building a strong cadre team, consolidating the grassroots foundation, strengthening the correct style of work, eliminating discipline and anti-corruption, and cultivating a good political ecology. Local party committees take the lead in implementing the main responsibilities and play a leading and demonstrative role in consolidating party management and governance responsibilities in the region. They can further reflect the strict tone, strict measures, and strict atmosphere into the entire process of all aspects of party building, and effectively prevent and correct the party's leadership weaknesses. We will effectively promote the party's governance, the lack of party building, and the inability to comprehensively and strictly govern the party, etc., and then effectively promote the implementation at the same level, drive the lower levels, and implement the implementation at all levels, promote the overall progress and comprehensive excellence of the party organizations at all levels, prevent the responsibilities from being left hanging and being pushed up and down, and form a strong synergy for party management.

2. Accurately grasp the important focus of strengthening the functions of local party committees

The "Decision" points out that local party committees must fulfill their responsibilities of steering the direction, managing the overall situation, making decisions, and ensuring implementation. We should focus on these four aspects to further strengthen the functions of local party committees.

(1) Focus on the direction and strive to strengthen the political leadership function. Political direction is the first issue for the survival and development of the party, and is related to the future and destiny of the party and the success or failure of its cause. Local party committees must always give top priority to firmly supporting the "two establishments" and resolutely achieving the "two safeguards", and must resolutely respond to what the Party Central Committee advocates, resolutely comply with the Party Central Committee's decisions, and resolutely not do what the Party Central Committee prohibits. We must adhere to the party's political construction as the guide, comprehensively promote the party's construction in all aspects, educate the majority of party members and cadres to strengthen their ideals and beliefs, and forge loyalty to the party, and actively guide the people to closely unite around the party and work together to achieve the cause. It is necessary to firmly establish and practice the correct view of political performance, implement the correct political direction into the region's major strategic planning, major task deployment, and major work advancement, resolutely prevent and correct the behavior of doing things one's own way, doing things independently, having policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, etc., to ensure that all undertakings in the region always advance in the direction specified by the party.

(2) Focus on managing the overall situation and strive to strengthen the function of promoting development. The local party committee manages the overall situation, focusing on planning and promoting local work based on the "big country", coordinating the regional local and overall situation, current and long-term, development and security and other major relationships, coordinating the forces of all parties, and creating a new situation in the economic and social development of the region. Managing the overall situation is not about micromanaging everything and taking over everything. It is necessary to implement the central spirit as the premise, accurately grasp the strategic positioning of the region in the overall national work and coordinated regional development, and study and determine work ideas, work deployments, and policies and measures. It is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, promote high-quality development in a down-to-earth manner, strive to protect and improve people's livelihood, and make every effort to maintain social security and overall stability. It is necessary to unify development and party building, shoulder the political responsibility of managing and governing the party, unswervingly govern the party comprehensively and strictly, and promote high-quality development with high-quality party building.

(3) Focus on decision-making and strive to strengthen scientific decision-making functions. Decision-making is an important part of local party committees' performance of their duties and a key step in transforming central government policies into local practice. Local party committee decision-making should adhere to collective leadership, democratic centralization, individual deliberation, and meeting decisions, and implement scientific decision-making, democratic decision-making, and decision-making in accordance with the law. We must proceed from reality and act in accordance with the rules, strengthen investigation and research, scientific demonstration, and risk assessment, extensively listen to opinions and suggestions from all sides, and continuously enhance the scientific and democratic nature of decision-making. It is necessary to strictly abide by legal authority, improve the supervision mechanism for major decisions, important personnel appointments and removals, major project arrangements, and the use of large funds, strengthen the compliance and legality review of major decisions, and ensure that the content of decision-making complies with laws, regulations, and the Party Constitution. It is necessary to improve the mechanism for decision-making tracking and evaluation and dynamic correction, while strengthening supervision and accountability, consolidating decision-making responsibilities, and continuously improving the quality of party committee decision-making.

(4) Focus on ensuring implementation and strive to strengthen the implementation function. Ensuring implementation is the responsibility and task of local party committees and an important manifestation of work ability. It is necessary to shoulder the responsibility of implementing and promoting implementation, establish a full-chain closed-loop implementation system, refine the division of tasks, consolidate hierarchical responsibilities, formulate powerful and effective organizational measures, assessment measures, incentive measures, and supervision measures, and resolutely correct problems such as poor implementation, slow advancement, and wasted efforts. It is necessary to improve the working mechanism for communication and implementation of superior-level deployments, upward reporting of grass-roots situations, and collaborative resolution of conflicting issues, so as to improve the effectiveness of implementation. We must dare to fight and be good at fighting, be well aware of various risks and challenges, and face the contradictions and problems in reform, development and stability, dare to face difficulties, and actively overcome difficulties. It is necessary to build a team of high-quality cadres, improve their ability to promote high-quality development, serve the people, prevent and resolve risks, and use legal thinking and legal methods to carry out work. We must vigorously promote the fine style of hard work, strive to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of work, and strive to create achievements that can stand the test of practice, the people, and history.

3. Important principles and key tasks for strengthening the functions of local party committees under the new situation

Strengthening the functions of local party committees is a task that requires long-term persistence. We must focus on key points, grasp principles, and constantly take effective measures to build local party committees into a strong organization that resolutely obeys the command of the Party Central Committee, has strong execution, strict management, united leadership, and pure ethos.

(1) Uphold and strengthen the party’s overall leadership and resolutely safeguard the authority and centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. We must persist in using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to focus our minds and forge our souls, conscientiously implement the "first issue" and the party committee (party group) theoretical study center group learning system, and promote local party organizations, party members, and cadres at all levels to consciously use the party's innovative theory to arm their minds, guide practice, and promote work. We must thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and important instructions on the region, be good at finding directions, ideas, and methods from them, and transform the learning results into a powerful force to guide practice and promote work. Establish the idea of ​​​​a national game of chess, always think about problems and handle things based on the overall situation of the party and the country, improve the implementation mechanism of the Party Central Committee's major decisions and arrangements, and strictly prevent "intermediate obstruction". Standardize the deliberative and coordination bodies of local party committees and strengthen cross-field and cross-department coordination capabilities. Strictly enforce political disciplines and rules, strictly implement the system of requesting instructions and reporting to the Party Central Committee, and resolutely prevent "seven things".

(2) Adhere to the people-centered approach and earnestly implement the party's purpose and mass line. We must keep in mind that the country is the people and the people are the country, insist that the starting point and goal of all work is to safeguard the fundamental interests of the people, and always put the people at the highest position in our hearts. Take the lead in conducting investigations and research at the grassroots level, fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of the masses, and consciously ask the people for government, their needs, and their plans. Plan and advance work more closely to the needs of the people, focus on solving the urgent, difficult and anxious problems of the people such as education, medical care, elderly care, childcare, housing, etc., take the satisfaction of the people as the fundamental criterion for testing the effectiveness of the work, and actively respond to the concerns of the people with visible changes and tangible benefits. Pay attention to the good use of the "four grassroots" working methods, implement the system of party members and cadres directly contacting and serving the masses, strengthen the functions of public service platforms such as citizen hotlines, and promote "what the people call, I respond." Guide party members and cadres to grasp the characteristics and laws of the party's mass work in the new era, be good at relying on the power of the masses to do work well and resolve conflicts, educate and guide the masses while serving the masses, and lead the masses forward. Follow the online mass line well, enhance the party organization's ability to organize, publicize, unite and serve the masses through the Internet, and improve the ability of party members and cadres to do online mass work.

(3) Persist in emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, seeking truth and being pragmatic, and carry out work creatively based on the actual situation of the region. To fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the Party Central Committee’s decisions and arrangements, work arrangements with local characteristics must conscientiously implement the Party Central Committee’s lines, principles and policies, combine local natural endowments, history, culture and social reality, give full play to subjective initiative, and seek truth from facts to advance all aspects of work. Find the connection point between one's own advantages and the overall work, be good at giving full play to comparative advantages, explore distinctive and differentiated development paths, avoid being general at the top and bottom, and the same at the left and right, so as to better serve the overall work of the party and the country. Adhere to "drawing a blueprint to the end" and "success does not have to be mine, success must be mine", do more to lay the foundation and benefit the long-term, resolutely prevent formalism, bureaucracy and quick success, and truly reflect the work results in promoting development, improving people's livelihood and maintaining stability.

(4) Adhere to democratic centralism and enhance the collective vitality of the Party’s local committee leadership and the Party’s unity and unity. It is necessary to uphold and improve the intra-party democratic system, implement the system for the role of the party's congresses at all levels, improve the quality of local party committees and party committee standing committee meetings, unblock channels for party members to participate in discussing intra-party affairs, and continuously improve the quality of intra-party democracy. Strictly implement the rules of procedure for decision-making of the leadership team, adhere to the combination of collective leadership and individual division of labor and responsibility, and prevent arbitrary actions and personal decisions, as well as prevent everyone from talking about his own opinions and deliberation without making a decision. We will improve the control mechanism for the exercise of power of the leadership team, standardize the performance of duties and powers of the “top leaders”, and implement the system for the “top leaders” to express their positions last. Party committee secretaries must carry forward democracy, listen carefully to different opinions, and correctly treat minority opinions. Team members must have the courage to take on responsibilities, dare to be responsible, and perform their duties. They must trust each other, understand each other, support each other, and supervise each other to jointly enhance the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the party committee team.

(5) Adhere to the party’s need to supervise the party, fully and strictly govern the party, and always maintain the party’s advanced nature and purity. It is necessary to tighten and consolidate the main responsibilities of the Party Committee (Party Group), the supervisory responsibilities of the Discipline Inspection Commission, the primary responsibility of the Party Committee (Party Group) Secretary, the "one post, dual responsibilities" of other members of the leadership team, and the specific responsibilities of Party members and cadres, and improve the responsibility system in which each has its own responsibilities and is unified and coordinated. We should regard strengthening party spirit as the fundamental task of comprehensively and strictly governing the party, and strengthen the education and management of party members. Build a strong team, strictly manage the team, conduct regular political examinations, and improve the ability to discover and solve own problems. We will persevere in implementing the spirit of the eight central regulations, strictly correct the "four styles", promote the normalization and long-term development of work style, and effectively reduce the burden on the grassroots. Strengthen strict discipline enforcement and comprehensively play the role of discipline education in restraining and ensuring incentives. Maintain a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, strengthen restrictions and supervision on the exercise of power, consolidate the ideological foundation of upholding integrity and resisting corruption, enhance the comprehensive effectiveness of promoting integrity, dare not corrupt, cannot corrupt, do not want to corrupt, and create a clean and upright political ecology.

(6) Persist in performing duties in accordance with the Party Constitution and Party regulations, and act within the scope of the Constitution and laws. We must take the lead in respecting the law, studying it, abiding by the law, and using it, and constantly improve our ability to deepen reform, promote development, resolve conflicts, maintain stability, and respond to risks in accordance with the law, so that all work always operates on the track of the rule of law. Strictly implement local party committee work regulations and other intra-party laws and regulations, strengthen institutional supply based on the actual needs of party management, and continuously improve the level of scientific, institutionalized and standardized local party building. Improve the coordination mechanism between intra-party regulations and national laws and regulations to achieve the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the party according to rules. Integrate supervision and discipline enforcement with supervision and law enforcement, seriously deal with violations of the Party Constitution, Party rules and Party disciplines, timely discover and investigate problems in the performance of duties and powers, vigorously break hidden rules, and form a high degree of awareness of compliance with rules and disciplines.