BEIJING, Oct. 26 -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday started a four-day plenary session in Beijing, which focuses on strengthening Party self-governance.

This marks the latest move by the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core to strengthen the Party through full and rigorous self-governance.

Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has emphasized that exercising full and rigorous self-governance is an enduring task for the Party.

"One has to be very strong if he wants to strike the iron," Xi said shortly after his election to the post of general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012. He later warned at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that if corruption is allowed to grow unchecked, "it could spell the end of both the Party and the state."

As China entered the new era, the CPC, the largest governing party in the world, faced unprecedented challenges in ensuring reform, development and stability, and addressing problems and risks confronting the nation.

Xi has stressed that China's success hinges on the Party, and has made clear that the CPC must continuously strengthen itself through self-governance.

In 2014, he explicitly put forward the concept of "exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance" as part of the Party's four-pronged governing strategy, alongside building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepening reform and advancing law-based governance.

He has made full and rigorous Party self-governance a long-term strategy, as he considers it vital to the Party's long-term governance, the country's enduring stability, and the people's happiness and well-being.

BREAK NEW GROUND

In December 2012, Xi began strengthening Party self-governance by introducing a code of conduct that became known as the "eight-point rules."

It established regulations for Party leaders regarding research tours, meetings, documentation, and other official duties, cracking down on lavish banquets, red carpet events, pomp, entourages, unnecessary meetings, and luxury perks that had once been regarded by some as typical symbols of power.

Its implementation has helped curb longstanding malpractices, with effects extending beyond Party and government offices to wider society.

"The eight-point rules have indeed brought about fundamental changes over the years," Xi said last year, when the Party launched a campaign to reinforce this code of conduct and consolidate the improvements it had brought about.

Xi also launched an unprecedented anti-corruption storm that has swept every corner of public office, netting both high-ranking "tigers" and lower-level "flies." Some of the most senior officials -- including former members of the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee, top military brass, and retirees who left their leading positions years ago -- have been brought to justice.

The anti-corruption campaign has continued unabated, with Xi stressing that the fight is an ongoing endeavor. In 2025 alone, 115 officials at ministerial level or above were placed under investigation, while 627,000 people were disciplined in cases involving misconduct and corruption that affect the people's immediate interests. The same year, China also opened investigations into more than 500 cases of cross-border corruption.

At a plenary session of the CPC's top disciplinary body early this year, Xi again warned that corruption remains a problem that arises all too easily and frequently.

"We must see the fight against corruption through to the end, no matter how great the resistance or how high the cost," he said. "No one who engages in corruption will be shown leniency, regardless of who they are, how high their rank or how great their contributions."

EFFECTIVE APPROACHES

To strengthen full and rigorous Party self-governance, it is imperative to uphold the Party's overall leadership.

Over the past 14 years, the Party's leadership has been further affirmed in both the Party Constitution and the country's Constitution. Central commissions have been established to oversee key areas including reform, national security, cyberspace affairs, and financial and economic affairs. Working mechanisms for central decision-making and coordinating bodies have also been strengthened.

Strengthening theoretical education is another approach. With Xi at the helm, the CPC has launched nine Party-wide major education campaigns.

The latest one, launched in February this year, prodded Party members to fix their mindset regarding governance performance, aiming to stamp out the tendency among some officials to sacrifice public well-being in seeking to polish their performance records.

This campaign built on the gains of previous ones on Party discipline and implementing the eight-point rules, among others, to advance the Party's self-governance.

These efforts have gone hand in hand with institution-building. Under Xi's watch, the Party and state oversight systems have been improved.

The National Commission of Supervision and local supervisory commissions were established to bring everyone in public office, regardless of Party membership, under supervision.

And Xi has made discipline inspections a key instrument of intra-Party oversight.

The inspection system allows higher-level Party authorities to send teams to examine how officials exercise power and carry out the central leadership's policies. Inspectors interview officials and members of the public, review documents and receive complaints. They report their findings to Party authorities.

After each round of inspections launched by the Party Central Committee, Xi reviewed the reports in detail, assessed the problems uncovered and pushed for further improvements in inspection work.

Since 2012, the Party has also formulated or revised an unprecedented number of internal regulations, building a comprehensive framework of rules to confine power in "a cage of institutions."

Noting the progress, Xi also warned that in some localities, rules were poorly enforced while "hidden rules" prevailed. He stressed that regulations must become "high-voltage lines" and that power must be exercised transparently, leaving no room for such hidden rules.

All these mechanisms are part of the integrated efforts to ensure officials, in Xi's words, "do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to become corrupt."

LEADING MODERNIZATION DRIVE

Full and rigorous Party self-governance serves a broader purpose: strengthening the Party's capacity to lead China's modernization drive.

"To successfully achieve the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), it is imperative to focus on enhancing the ability and competence of the Party in leading economic and social development," Xi told senior provincial- and ministerial-level officials attending a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee earlier this year.

He urged Party officials to become more capable of pursuing high-quality development, serving the people, and guarding against and defusing risks.

China has entered a critical period for achieving the goal of basically realizing modernization by 2035, and still faces rising uncertainty abroad and mounting challenges at home. At such critical junctures, strong Party leadership is vital to chart the course.

All Party members, Xi said, must remain true to the Party's original aspiration and mission, and lead the nation to "create new historic glories."