CPC to sharpen intra-Party management

BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday published two documents to regulate the formation of Party rules.

The two regulations are considered an important move to improve the CPC's internal management and sharpen intra-Party supervision.

One regulation is about which party organs are authorized to draft, approve, publish, amend and abolish party regulations and what procedures they should follow.

The other one details how party regulations should be put on records, reviewed, amended or abolished.

The two regulations are the first formal documents to regulate the formation of CPC rules since the founding of the CPC in 1921. They will affect more than 82 million members and four million CPC organs.

The newly published regulations are based on a temporary regulation on the formation of party rules issued in 1990.

Prof. Jiang Ming'an, with the Law School of Peking University, told Xinhua that the new CPC leadership expected to tighten up internal management through standardizing the formation of party rules and preventing randomness in this aspect.

"Stable and standard management of the CPC, the ruling party, is an important aspect of the rule of law in China," Jiang said.

Currently, the CPC operates under a comprehensive set of regulations but some were issued without proper research and some old rules have not been updated to keep up with changes in reality.

In the two regulations, the CPC has aimed to improve transparency in the drafting of party rules.

Now, before a party regulation is issued, the CPC should solicit opinions from party members, experts and citizens through publishing the draft online or holding consultation meetings.

The new regulations also require the CPC to publish all of its regulations except in a few special cases.

Prof. Zhen Xiaoying, with the Central Socialist Academy, said more transparency will prevent the CPC from issuing ineffective or empty rules and help reduce bureaucracy.

The new rules also regulate that the CPC should have both annual and five-year plans for drafting and amending party rules.

This is the first time in CPC history that the Party will have a five-year plan on the formation of party rules, Zhen said.

A long-term plan will help the Party to realize the continuity of its rules and improve drafting work, she said.

Since last June, the CPC has gone through all its regulatory documents that were issued after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, in a bid to decide which should remain and which should be abolished. The process represents a first in the organization's history.

The new leadership has promised to "lock the power in the cage" so, first of all, the cage of the laws and party regulations should be strong enough, said Prof. Ye Duchu, with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Building the framework of rules will affect generations and help safeguard the long-term rule of CPC in China, Ye said.