Continuously Enhancing the Party’s Capacity to Lead Further Comprehensive Deepening of Reform

The Party’s leadership is the greatest strength of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [1]1 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC: A major meeting of the Communist Party of China held in July 2024, focused on further deepening reform comprehensively. emphasized upholding the Party’s overall leadership, giving play to the Party’s core leadership role in commanding the overall situation and coordinating all parties, and integrating Party leadership into every aspect and the entire process of reform. This is a scientific summation of the practical experience of comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era [2]2 New Era: The period of Chinese history beginning with the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, marked by Xi Jinping’s leadership and the goal of national rejuvenation. and a solemn declaration of basic principles, which sets forth clear requirements for improving the Party’s leadership level in further comprehensively deepening reform.

党的领导是中国特色社会主义制度的最大优势，是进一步全面深化改革的根本保证。党的二十届三中全会强调，坚持党的全面领导，发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，把党的领导贯穿改革各方面和全过程。这是对新时代全面深化改革实践经验的科学总结、基本原则的郑重宣示，为提高党对进一步全面深化改革的领导水平提出了明确要求。

Engaging in reform practice cultivates versatile talent. Comprehensively deepening reform is a vast systematic project, involving all fields and aspects of the economy, politics, culture, society, ecological civilization, and Party building [3]3 Party building: The systematic work of strengthening the Communist Party of China’s organization, ideology, discipline, and leadership capacity.. It requires a large number of high-quality versatile talents with solid foundational knowledge, rich professional knowledge, and broad auxiliary knowledge, who are proficient in the reform task book, timetable, and roadmap. Only by undertaking reform tasks, strengthening professional training, committing to scientific and technological innovation, and undergoing the tempering of responding to risks and challenges can we effectively improve the leadership level of commanding the overall situation and coordinating all parties, thereby enhancing the governance capacity for overall planning, organization and coordination, implementation, and innovation and pioneering, so as to match the corresponding reform tasks. Reform calls for leadership level and creates leadership level. The process of engaging in reform practice is not only a process of promoting economic and social development but also a process of improving people’s quality and capacity. Enriching experience, accumulating experience, tempering character, and broadening horizons through reform practice are key links for the robust growth of talent and an important platform for the development and growth of a political party. Only by taking reform practice as the best classroom, taking the people as the best teachers, going deep into the main battlefield of reform and development, the front line of scientific and technological innovation, and the forefront of serving the masses, and experiencing many storms, dangers, hardships, and struggles, can we enhance the Party’s political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, thereby becoming the most reliable backbone of the entire people when storms strike.

投身改革实践，造就复合人才。全面深化改革是一项宏大的系统工程，涉及经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明和党的建设等各领域各方面，需要大批具有厚实的基础知识、丰富的专业知识、广博的辅助知识，精通改革任务书、时间表、路线图的高素质复合型人才。我们通过承担改革任务、强化专业培训、致力科技创新、应对风险挑战的历练，切实提高统揽全局、协调各方的领导水平，进而增强统筹谋划、组织协调、贯彻执行、开拓创新的治理能力，才能匹配相应的改革任务。改革呼唤领导水平并造就领导水平。投身改革实践的过程，既是推进经济社会发展的过程，也是提升人的素质能力的过程。通过改革实践丰富阅历、积累经验、锤炼品格、开阔视野，是人才茁壮成长的关键环节，也是政党发展壮大的重要平台。只有把改革实践作为最好的课堂，把人民群众作为最好的老师，深入改革发展主战场、科技创新第一线、服务群众最前沿，多经历狂风暴雨、急难险重、摸爬滚打，才能增强党的政治领导力、思想引领力、群众组织力、社会号召力，进而成为风雨来袭时全体人民最可靠的主心骨。

Governing the Party strictly and comprehensively, and governing power strictly and comprehensively. In practice, governing the Party should focus on proceeding from practical problems, starting from the ideological source, strengthening the awareness of strictness, establishing strict standards, adopting strict measures, and cultivating strict habits, achieving strict ideological education, strict style cultivation, strict institutional norms, strict organizational management, strict disciplinary constraints, and strict problem investigation. Only by governing the Party and governing power with strict standards can we form the governance essence of leading cadres and the conscious action of Party members and the masses, thereby maintaining the Party’s advanced nature and purity, enhancing the Party’s creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness, consolidating the Party’s leadership position, and fulfilling the Party’s governing mission. Under the new era conditions where the world situation, national conditions, and Party conditions have undergone profound changes, the Party faces many unprecedented severe challenges and tests, such as whether long-term governance can prevent the solidification of interests, whether reform and opening up [4]4 Reform and opening up: The policy of economic liberalization and global integration initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. can adhere to the correct direction, whether the market economy can resist the temptation of money, and whether the external environment can withstand Westernization and erosion. Therefore, the task of governing the Party strictly and comprehensively and governing power strictly and comprehensively is more arduous and heavy than ever before. Facing the new situation and new tasks, for the Party to unite and lead the broad masses of the people to push forward further comprehensive deepening of reform, it must strengthen the main responsibility and supervisory responsibility, always maintain the consciousness of facing problems squarely, continuously eliminate all viruses that damage the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and continuously eliminate all chronic diseases that erode the Party’s cohesion, creativity, and combat effectiveness, thereby always maintaining the Party’s vigorous vitality and exuberant vitality.

从严管党治党，从严管权治权。实践中，管党治党应注重从实际问题着眼，从思想源头着手，强化严的意识、树立严的标准、采取严的举措、养成严的习惯，做到思想教育严、作风养成严、制度规范严、组织管理严、纪律约束严、问题查处严。只有以严的标准管党治党、管权治权，才能形成领导干部的治理精要、党员群众的行动自觉，进而才能始终保持党的先进性和纯洁性，提高党的创造力、凝聚力和战斗力，巩固党的领导地位，完成党的执政使命。在世情、国情、党情发生深刻变化新的时代条件下，党面临许多前所未有的严峻挑战和考验，如长期执政能否防止利益固化，改革开放能否坚持正确方向，市场经济能否拒斥金钱诱惑，外部环境能否抵御西化侵蚀，因而从严管党治党、管权治权任务比以往任何时候都更加艰巨繁重。面对新形势新任务，我们党要团结带领广大人民把进一步全面深化改革推向前进，就必须强化主体责任和监督责任，始终保持正视问题的自觉，不断清除一切损害党的先进性和纯洁性的病毒，不断清除一切侵蚀党的凝聚力、创造力和战斗力的沉疴，从而始终保持党的蓬勃生机和旺盛活力。

Improving the supervision system and enhancing supervision effectiveness. Our Party continuously promotes practical and theoretical innovation in supervision work, gradually improving the Party and state supervision system. Among them, the basic point of intra-Party supervision is to uphold Party leadership, strengthen Party building, and always maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity. The essence of intra-Party supervision is to enhance the Party’s ability to self-purify, self-improve, self-reform, and self-enhance, and to focus on eradicating the soil and conditions for breeding corruption. The scope of intra-Party supervision is that there are no forbidden zones and no exceptions; the Party does not allow special powers that are not subject to checks or special Party members who are not subject to supervision. The focus of intra-Party supervision is the Party’s leading organs and leading cadres, especially the main leading cadres. The requirement of intra-Party supervision is to integrally advance the punishment mechanism that deters corruption, the prevention mechanism that prevents corruption, and the self-discipline mechanism that discourages corruption, focusing on rectifying corruption in areas where power is concentrated, funds are intensive, and resources are abundant. The task of intra-Party supervision is to effectively safeguard the Party’s unity and centralized unity, ensuring the effective implementation of the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and Party discipline. The main methods of intra-Party supervision are the linkage of inspections and inspections from top to bottom, and the integrated operation of discipline inspection and supervision [5]5 Discipline inspection and supervision: The Party and state system for monitoring and punishing corruption and misconduct among officials.. The orientation of intra-Party supervision is to improve the supervision system of comprehensive supervision by Party committees, specialized supervision by discipline inspection commissions, functional supervision by departments, daily supervision by grassroots units, and democratic supervision by Party members, and to perfect the mechanisms of concretization, precision, and normalization. The relationship between intra-Party supervision and extra-Party supervision is that intra-Party supervision takes the lead, and by integrating intra-Party supervision, state supervision, and social supervision, it forms a supervision network that is coherent from top to bottom, coordinated internally and externally, systematically matched, and effective, so that Party members and cadres have sufficient power to promote public welfare, but if they dabble in corruption, they will be bound by the law that is comprehensive and inescapable.

健全监督体系，提升监督效能。我们党在监督工作中不断推进实践和理论创新，逐步完善了党和国家监督体系。其中，党内监督的基点是坚持党的领导，加强党的建设，始终保持党的先进性和纯洁性。党内监督的实质是增强党自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高能力，着力铲除腐败滋生的土壤和条件。党内监督的范围是没有禁区没有例外，党内不允许有不受制约的特殊权力、不受监督的特殊党员。党内监督的重点是党的领导机关和领导干部，特别是主要领导干部。党内监督的要求是一体推进不敢腐的惩戒机制、不能腐的防范机制、不想腐的自律机制，着重整治权力集中、资金密集、资源富集领域的腐败。党内监督的任务是切实维护党的团结和集中统一，确保党章党规党纪有效执行。党内监督的方式主要是巡视巡察上下联动，纪检监察一体运作。党内监督的取向是健全党委全面监督、纪委专责监督、部门职能监督、基层日常监督、党员民主监督体系，完善具体化、精准化、常态化机制。党内监督与党外监督的关系是以党内监督为主导，通过整合党内监督、国家监督、社会监督，使之形成上下连贯、内外协调、系统配套、行之有效的监督网络，使党员干部有充分的权力去增进公益，但要涉足腐败，便会被疏而不漏的法网缚住手脚。

Daring to engage in self-revolution and being good at self-transcendence. Our Party has come all the way from the century-long journey, always maintaining a high degree of consciousness in leading social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution, indicating that our Party is a Party with a mission and far-sighted vision, a Party that is brave in pioneering and discarding the old for the new, and a Party that is long-tested, firm, and mature. Daring to engage in self-revolution means that the Party, adhering to the principle of upholding truth and correcting errors, upholding the awareness of taking the examination [6]6 Taking the examination: A metaphor from Mao Zedong, comparing the Party’s governance to a constant test that must be passed with vigilance., insisting on the positioning of the answer sheet writer, maintaining the courage to turn the blade inward, through self-examination of the Party member and cadre contingent, self-correction of erroneous ideological concepts, self-investigation of violations of discipline and law, and self-sublation of unsuitable systems and mechanisms, to consolidate the Party’s leadership foundation, improve the Party’s leadership capacity, improve the Party’s leadership methods, and enhance the Party’s leadership effectiveness. Being good at self-transcendence, continuously breaking through the shackles of outdated concepts and the fetters of rigid systems, both daring to reform and innovate in the great cause led by the Party itself and being good at forging ahead in the great project of self-building, is a powerful support for the Party to maintain its vitality forever, a concentrated expression of the Party’s firm stance on the people’s side, and an important guarantee for the Party to lead social revolution. It can be seen that the reason why the Party is great, glorious, and correct lies not in not making mistakes, but in having the courage to uphold truth and correct errors, the ability to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground and discard the old for the new, the perseverance to cut off one’s own wrist and scrape the poison off the bone [7]7 Cut off one’s own wrist and scrape the poison off the bone: A Chinese idiom meaning to take resolute and painful measures to correct deep-seated problems., the determination to persevere and be indomitable, and the inner strength to nip problems in the bud and strictly self-discipline.

勇于自我革命，善于自我超越。我们党从百年征程中一路走来，始终保持以党的自我革命引领社会革命的高度自觉，表明我们党是一个肩负使命、目光远大的党，是一个勇于开拓、革故鼎新的党，是一个久经考验、坚定成熟的党。勇于自我革命，就是党本着坚持真理、修正错误的原则，秉持赶考的意识，坚持答卷人的定位，保持刀刃向内的勇气，通过对党员干部队伍进行自我审视，对错误思想观念进行自我矫正，对违纪违法行为进行自我查处，对不适体制机制进行自我扬弃，以巩固党的领导基础、提高党的领导能力、改进党的领导方式、增强党的领导效能的过程。善于自我超越，不断冲破陈旧观念的束缚、僵化体制的羁绊，既勇于在自己领导的伟大事业中改革创新，又善于在自身建设的伟大工程中锐意进取，是党永葆生机活力的强大支撑，是党站稳人民立场的集中体现，是党引领社会革命的重要保障。由此可见，党之所以伟大光荣正确，不在于不犯错误，而在于具有坚持真理、修正错误的魄力，守正创新、革故鼎新的能力，壮士断腕、刮骨疗毒的毅力，持之以恒、百折不挠的定力，防微杜渐、严格自律的内力。

Strengthening Party building through ideology and focusing on governing the Party by regulations. Practice shows that organically combining the guiding force of politics, the inspiring force of ideology, the driving force of organization, the influence of style, the binding force of discipline, the normative force of institutions, and the deterrent force of anti-corruption, and continuously promoting the Party’s comprehensive building, is an effective way to improve the Party’s leadership level. The reason why our Party can lead the people to complete the arduous tasks that other Chinese political forces could not accomplish lies in combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, continuously adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and using the scientific theory of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times to guide great practice. In the New Era and the new journey, deeply comprehending the profound scientific content, penetrating spiritual essence, and reform and innovation practical requirements of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, grasping the direction, understanding the laws, and gaining inspiration from it, and consciously using it to arm the mind, guide practice, and promote work, is an important magic weapon for solidly laying the ideological and political foundation for standing upright, conducting oneself, doing work, and starting a business. At the same time, intra-Party regulations reflect the objective laws of Party building, condense the valuable experience of governing the Party, and have distinct political attributes, value orientation, governance logic, and normative functions. On the basis of correctly handling the relationships between principles and detailed rules, entities and procedures, parts and wholes, formulation and implementation, and stability and change, establishing and improving an intra-Party regulation system that is coherent from front to back, linked from left to right, matched from top to bottom, and systematically integrated is a solid institutional framework and mechanism platform for achieving normal and long-term effectiveness in governing the Party.

加强思想建党，注重依规治党。实践表明，把政治的引导力、思想的感召力、组织的推动力、作风的影响力、纪律的约束力、制度的规范力、反腐的威慑力有机结合起来，持续推进党的全面建设，是提高党的领导水平的有效途径。我们党之所以能够领导人民完成中国其他政治力量不可能完成的艰巨任务，在于把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化，用马克思主义中国化时代化的科学理论引领伟大实践。新时代新征程，深刻领悟习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想博大精深的科学内容、鞭辟入里的精神实质、改革创新的实践要求，从中把握方向、体察规律、获得启迪，自觉用以武装头脑、指导实践、推动工作，是切实打牢立身做人、干事创业思想政治基础的重要法宝。同时，党内法规反映了党的建设的客观规律，凝聚了管党治党的宝贵经验，具有鲜明的政治属性、价值导向、治理逻辑和规范功能。在正确处理原则与细则、实体与程序、部分与整体、制定与执行、稳定与变革关系的基础上，建立健全前后衔接、左右联动、上下配套、系统集成的党内法规体系，是实现管党治党常态长效坚实的制度架构和机制平台。

Improve organizational structure, enhance organizational functions. The Party’s strength comes from its organization. Among them, the Party’s central organizations are the formulators of the Party’s line, principles, and policies, the decision-makers who oversee the overall situation and coordinate all parties, and occupy an important position in the Party’s organizational system for setting direction and ensuring correctness. The Party’s local organizations are the leading cores in their respective regions for setting direction, managing the overall situation, making decisions, and promoting implementation; they are the intermediate links for implementing the Party’s line, principles, and policies, and occupy an important position in the Party’s organizational system for linking the upper and lower levels. The Party’s primary-level organizations are the battle fortresses of various social grassroots organizations, the force supporting the implementation of the Party’s line, principles, and policies, and occupy an important position as a solid foundation in the Party’s organizational system. Raising the Party’s leadership level requires us to seize the opportunity of further comprehensively deepening reform, incorporate new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new employment groups into the scope of Party building, continuously improve the Party’s organizational structure, effectively enhance the Party’s political functions and organizational functions, fully leverage the Party’s guiding, integrating, coordinating, and governing roles, and ensure that the Party always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

完善组织结构，增强组织功能。党的力量来自组织。其中，党的中央组织是党的路线方针政策的制定者，是总揽全局、协调各方的决策者，在党的组织体系中处于把关定向的重要地位。党的地方组织是本地区把方向、管大局、作决策、促落实的领导核心，是贯彻落实党的路线方针政策的中间环节，在党的组织体系中处于承上启下的重要地位。党的基层组织是社会各种基层组织的战斗堡垒，是贯彻落实党的路线方针政策的力量支撑，在党的组织体系中处于稳固基石的重要地位。提高党的领导水平，要求我们乘进一步全面深化改革的东风，将新经济组织、新社会组织、新就业群体纳入党的建设范畴，不断完善党的组织结构，切实增强党的政治功能和组织功能，充分发挥党的导向作用、整合作用、协调作用、治理作用，确保党始终成为中国特色社会主义事业的坚强领导核心。

(The author is a researcher at the School of Marxism, Tianjin University)

（作者系天津大学马克思主义学院研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧