Understanding China Through Keywords

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Understanding China Through Keywords

Learning keywords is one of the best ways to keep abreast of the latest developments in a country. The China Academy of Translation, a research institute affiliated with the China International Publishing Group, the country’s leading international publisher, regularly analyzes prevailing Chinese terms in various sectors and translates them into a number of foreign languages ranging from English to Arabic. In each issue, Beijing Review presents a selection of these keywords to help readers know more about China.

An expanded in-depth reform agenda

The overall goal of China’s all-round push for further reform is to improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and to modernize China’s governance system and capabilities. The reforms will not be restricted to one or a few particular fields, but will involve a wide range of areas, including economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological policies, national defense, the military, and efforts to build a more open society. Success will not materialize with the efforts of one or a few particular departments, but will hinge on the concerted efforts of all sectors. Effective implementation of this new reform agenda entails more out-of-the-box thinking, reliance on the people, and strengthened and improved Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership. An all-round push for further reform will be a key driver in the execution of China’s Four-Pronged Strategy.

An all-out effort to enforce strict Party discipline

Strict discipline has always been part of a great tradition of the CPC. While visiting Jiangsu Province in December 2014, President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort to enforce strict discipline, placing new emphasis on the importance of regulating the Party’s own conduct.

An “all-out” effort is meant to cover the five cornerstones of Party development, namely theoretical development, organizational readjustment, work practices, anti-corruption campaigns, and institutional arrangements, and apply to every CPC organization and every CPC member. “Strict”discipline subjects CPC members to higher standards, i.e. standards more demanding than the general laws and regulations applicable to non-Party citizens. The focus is to provide restraints on Party members who hold official positions, and keep their activities under rigorous scrutiny.

A comprehensive framework for promoting the rule of law

Promoting the rule of law is one of the fundamental pillars underpinning the CPC’s national governance strategy that emphasizes the ownership role of the people. At its Fourth Plenary Session held from October 20 to 23, 2014, the 18th CPC Central Committee rolled out a series of new initiatives to this end. The overall goal of these initiatives is to build the rule of law characteristic of Chinese socialism. To realize this goal it is vital to develop a sound legal system, buttressed by efficient and effective enforcement, oversight and support mechanisms, together with an effective intra-Party system of discipline and rules. The comprehensive process of promoting the rule of law should focus on ensuring that the Constitution and laws fully comply with national governance and in the exercise of political and executive power.

Coordinated efforts should be made to strengthen the legal system and legal awareness throughout the country, at all levels of the government and in all sectors of society, so as to ensure the rationality of the legislative process, strict enforcement of and universal adherence to all laws, and impartial administration of justice. In view of the fact that China is currently faced with unprecedented challenges of moving forward with further reform, and ensuring development and stability, a rule-of-law culture has become more important than ever before. Promoting the rule of law is therefore essential to realizing the country’s goals of building a moderately well-off society and furthering reform, and to the CPC’s efforts to strengthen discipline among its members.

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