Supervision at top called example for the whole Party

The Communist Party of China published two sets of disciplinary rules and norms of conduct for all members on Wednesday, as the Party seeks to further beef up the supervision of senior officials.

The two regulations, which were approved at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Thursday, include a new version of the norms for political life within the Party and a revised intraparty supervision regulation.

Both regulations, which took effect on Wednesday, have made senior Party officials the key supervision target and stress strict Party governance and elimination of privileges within the Party.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said while explaining the two new regulations to the committee that political life in the Party has been generally good. However, prominent problems remain and urgently need to be addressed, he added.

Xi's remarks, made during the sixth plenary session last week, were made public on Wednesday.

He said both regulations have prioritized the supervision of senior Party officials, especially those in the top Party leadership, because enhancing the supervision of those officials will set an example for the whole Party.

He cited a number of faults among Party members, including lax discipline, detachment from the people, arbitrariness and inaction, acts of individualism, factionalism, money worshipping and violations linked to bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

In particular, he said, a handful of senior Party officials, overcome by their political cravings and lust for power, have resorted to political conspiracies by ostensibly working obediently while forming cliques to pursue selfish interests.

He listed Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou and Ling Jihua as examples, citing their economic and political misdeeds.

"The cases have not only exposed their serious misdeeds in economic terms, but also their serious problems in political terms. The lessons were learned the hard way," he said.

"It made us realize that we need to prioritize the Party's ideological and political building and create a clean and upright political environment," Xi added.

Zhen Xiaoying, a professor of Party theory at the Central Institute of Socialism, said: "The senior officials are the backbone of the Party. ... The supervision of them will benefit the entire Party."

Wu Hui, associate professor of Party governance at the CPC Central Party School, said the regulation on intraParty supervision was formulated in the 1980s, but many items needed to be updated to deal with the situation that the Party faces in the new era.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn