Persist in Governing the Party with a Reformist Spirit and Strict Standards

“Persisting in governing the Party with a reformist spirit and strict standards” is an important requirement for Party building in the New Era, and also an essential component and inherent meaning of Xi Jinping’s important thought on Party building. In recent years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized this point on multiple occasions. In April 2018, at the conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Hainan Province and the Hainan Special Economic Zone, he pointed out that “Party building must be carried out with a spirit of reform and innovation.” In October 2020, at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, he also stressed that the Party’s overall leadership and Party building must be strengthened with a spirit of reform and innovation. On July 18, 2024, at the second plenary session of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [n1], he explicitly proposed “persisting in governing the Party with a reformist spirit and strict standards.” On January 6, 2025, in an important speech at the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection [n2], he reiterated this point. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee incorporated this as an important element of further comprehensively deepening reform into the decision document, emphasizing “persisting in governing the Party with a reformist spirit and strict standards, and perfecting the institutional system for the Party’s self-revolution.” Accurately understanding this point is a key entry point for thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping’s important thought on Party building.

“坚持用改革精神和严的标准管党治党”，是新时代党的建设的重要要求，也是习近平总书记关于党的建设的重要思想的重要内容和题中之义。近年来，习近平总书记在多个场合强调过这一点，2018年4月在庆祝海南建省办经济特区30周年大会上指出，“要以改革创新精神抓好党建”；2020年10月在深圳经济特区建立40周年庆祝大会上也强调，要以改革创新精神加强党的全面领导和党的建设，2024年7月18日在党的二十届三中全会第二次全体会议上明确提出“坚持用改革精神和严的标准管党治党”，2025年1月6日在二十届中央纪委四次全会上发表重要讲话又重申这一点，党的二十届三中全会将其作为进一步全面深化改革的一项重要内容写入决定稿，强调“坚持用改革精神和严的标准管党治党，完善党的自我革命制度规范体系”。准确理解这一点，是深入贯彻习近平总书记关于党的建设重要思想的关键切入口。

Ensuring comprehensive and strict governance of the Party with a reformist spirit is an important historical experience of Party building

以改革精神保障全面从严治党是党的建设重要历史经验

The reformist spirit is a spiritual quality formed by the Party over long-term practice, characterized by courage to explore and daring to innovate. It emphasizes keeping pace with the times, discarding the old and introducing the new, responding to new situations and new problems with an open mindset and scientific methods, and constantly engaging in self-adjustment and self-innovation through myriad changes in pursuit of “unchanging” principles. The reformist spirit is not only an inherent requirement for solving deep-seated problems within the Party, but also an important driving force for the Party’s own construction, and a crucial guarantee for raising the level of Party governance.

改革精神是党在长期实践中形成的一种勇于探索、敢于创新的精神品质，它强调与时俱进、革故鼎新，以开放的思维和科学的方法应对新情况、新问题，以万变求“不变”不断进行自我调适、自我革新。改革精神既是解决党内深层次问题的内在要求，又是党自身建设的重要动力，还是提升管党治党水平的重要保障。

The reformist spirit provides the era-consciousness for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. The reformist spirit is the essence of the spirit of the times. Each era has its own problems, and the domestic and international situations and historical missions facing the Party are constantly changing. Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party must possess the era-consciousness to discern historical trends, “observing the era, grasping the era, leading the era, actively recognizing change, responding to change, and seeking change, and resolving various contradictions and problems existing in economic and social development and Party building.” Promoting Party building with a reformist spirit requires not only timely adjustment of goals and missions, but also a problem-awareness that keeps pace with the times and a daring, enterprising spirit. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, Party members of peasant and petty-bourgeois origin constituted a considerable proportion, and erroneous ideas such as “Left” putschism and Right opportunism emerged within the Party, seriously affecting its combat effectiveness. To address this, Chinese Communists represented by Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the important principle of building the Party ideologically. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Chinese Communist Party never relaxed comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. In response to corruption, waste, and bureaucratism within Party and government organs, the “Three-Anti Campaign” [n3] was launched, severely cracking down on corruption within the Party, eliminating corrupt elements represented by Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan [n4], and purifying the cadre ranks. In response to complacency, bureaucratism, and commandism within the Party, rectification campaigns were launched to strictly rectify the Party’s style of work throughout. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, against the backdrop of reform and opening up and vigorous development of the market economy, the Chinese Communist Party insisted on grasping reform and opening up with one hand and punishing corruption with the other. By strengthening institutional construction, the long-standing erroneous tendency within the Party’s history of emphasizing education over laws and regulations was corrected. The Party Central Committee successively formulated a series of intra-Party regulations, promoting the institutionalization and standardization of Party building. The anti-corruption work mechanism was established and improved, the reform of the Party and state leadership system was advanced, the construction of clean governance and Party conduct of the ruling Party was strengthened, intra-Party political life was standardized, and the scientific level of Party building was raised. Entering the New Era, our Party has focused on constructing a scientific system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, establishing the overall layout for Party building; beginning with the formulation and implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations [n5], persistently rectifying the “Four Forms of Decadence” [n6]; leading social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution, strengthening political supervision, etc. Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in the New Era has achieved historic accomplishments. The Party’s history of over one hundred years repeatedly proves that strict governance of the Party must keep pace with the times, take the era’s tasks and mission responsibilities as its goals, take the era’s problems and practical challenges as the targets of self-revolution, and advance Party building with a reformist spirit.

改革精神为全面从严治党提供时代自觉。改革精神是时代精神的精髓，一个时代有一个时代的问题，党面临的国内外形势和历史使命任务也在不断变化，全面从严治党必须有洞察历史大势的时代自觉，“观察时代、把握时代、引领时代，积极识变应变求变，解决经济社会发展和党的建设中存在的各种矛盾问题”。以改革精神推进党的建设，不仅要及时调整目标使命，还要有与时俱进的问题意识、敢闯敢冒的拼搏精神。新民主主义革命时期，农民和小资产阶级出身的党员占了相当大的比例，党内出现了“左”倾盲动主义、右倾机会主义等错误思想，严重影响了党的战斗力。为此，以毛泽东同志为代表的中国共产党人提出了思想建党的重要原则。社会主义革命和建设时期，中国共产党丝毫未放松全面从严治党。针对党政机关内部出现的贪污、浪费和官僚主义问题，开展“三反”运动，严厉打击党内腐败现象，清除了以刘青山、张子善为代表的腐败分子，纯洁了干部队伍；针对党内骄傲自满情绪和官僚主义、命令主义作风，开展整风运动，从严整顿全党作风。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，中国共产党在改革开放和大力发展市场经济的大背景下，坚持一手抓改革开放，一手抓惩治腐败。通过加强制度建设，纠正了党的历史上长期存在的重教育轻法规的错误倾向，党中央先后制定了一系列党内法规制度，推动党的建设制度化、规范化。建立健全反腐败工作机制，推进党和国家领导制度改革，强化执政党党风廉政建设，规范党内政治生活，提高党的建设科学化水平。进入新时代，我们党着力构建全面从严治党科学体系，确立了党的建设总体布局；以制定和落实中央八项规定为开局，持之以恒纠治“四风”；以党的自我革命引领社会革命，强化政治监督等，新时代全面从严治党取得了历史性成就。我们党一百多年的历史反复证明，从严管党治党一定要紧跟时代步伐，以时代任务和使命担当为目标，以时代问题和现实挑战为自我革命靶向，以改革精神推进党的建设。

The reformist spirit provides ideas and measures for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Reform is meant to resolve existing contradictions, problems, deviations, and deficiencies. However, the reformist spirit does not stop at keen problem-awareness, the courage to face problems, and the daring to venture and experiment; it also includes introducing new concepts, methods, or mechanisms through emancipating the mind, providing new ideas, new measures, new methods, and new means for promoting Party governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes that to improve the quality of Party building, “we must vigorously promote reform and innovation based on the new situations and new problems facing Party building, and use new ideas, measures, and methods to resolve new contradictions and problems.” Reform implies “change,” gives birth to “the new,” and is a transformation and change in a positive direction. It means discarding the old, reforming what is outdated, and creating and establishing the new, helping our Party to solve new problems and meet new challenges with systematic thinking and innovative methods. For example, during the New Democratic Revolution, to advance ideological Party building, a new method of unifying thought and consolidating strength through the Yan’an Rectification Movement [n7] was pioneered; the Party’s ranks were purified through the strict “Cadre Screening Movement” [n8]; and supervision over Party organizations and members at all levels was strengthened through the establishment of reporting systems and other means. Practice has proven that the rectification movement purified the Party’s ranks from their ideological roots, laying the ideological foundation for victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. Entering the New Era, our Party has actively explored the empowerment of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party through science and technology, continuously innovating Party building methods and approaches. It uses internet technology to carry out online Party building work, strengthens Party member education and management through Party-building apps, online learning platforms, and other means; strengthens intra-Party supervision through information platforms; identifies problem clues through big data analysis; expands channels for mass supervision through online platforms, enhancing the masses’ sense of participation and gain from comprehensive and strict governance of the Party; and focuses on innovation in grassroots Party building, carrying out initiatives such as “Party building leading grassroots governance.” Practice has proven that it is precisely because of the reformist spirit that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party can continuously innovate methods and approaches, update ideas and measures, and constantly improve governance capacity.

改革精神为全面从严治党提供思路举措。改革就是为了解决现存的矛盾、问题、偏差和不足，但改革精神并不止步于敏锐的问题意识、直面问题的勇气和敢闯敢试的冒险精神，还包括通过解放思想，引入新的理念、方法或机制，为推动管党治党提供新思路、新举措、新方法、新手段。习近平总书记强调，提高党的建设质量，“要根据党的建设面临的新情况新问题大力推进改革创新，用新的思路、举措、办法解决新的矛盾和问题”。改革，意味着“变”、孕育着“新”，并且是向好的方向转变和改变，就是革除旧的、革新不合时宜的、创设创立新的，帮助我们党以系统思维、创新方法解决新问题，应对新挑战。比如，新民主主义革命时期，为推进思想建党，开创了通过延安整风运动实现统一思想、凝聚力量的新方式，通过严格的“审干运动”纯洁了党的队伍，通过建立报告制度等方式加强了对各级党组织和党员的监督。实践证明，整风运动从思想根源上纯洁了党的队伍，为夺取抗日战争和解放战争的胜利奠定了思想基础。进入新时代，我们党积极探索科技赋能全面从严治党，不断创新党建方式方法，利用互联网技术开展线上党建工作，通过党建APP、在线学习平台等方式加强党员教育管理；通过信息化平台加强党内监督、通过大数据分析发现问题线索；通过网络平台拓宽群众监督渠道，增强群众对全面从严治党的参与感和获得感；注重基层党建创新，开展“党建引领基层治理”等。实践证明，正是因为改革精神，全面从严治党才能不断创新方式方法、更新思路举措，不断提高执政能力。

The reformist spirit stimulates the endogenous driving force for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. The reformist spirit is an important driving force for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, injecting inexhaustible momentum into it. Promoting Party building with a reformist spirit emphasizes deepening the reform of the Party building system with innovative thinking and methods, which can continuously optimize the Party’s own systems and mechanisms, eliminate various deep-seated maladies within the Party, optimize the allocation of intra-Party resources, improve governance efficiency, and enhance the Party’s vitality. The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-Path Modernization” emphasizes that the Party’s leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and promoting Chinese-path modernization. It is necessary to deepen the reform of the Party building system, and encourage cadres to forge ahead, take initiative, and start undertakings. Looking to the future, we must continue to arm the entire Party with

改革精神激发全面从严治党的内生动力。改革精神是全面从严治党的重要驱动力，为全面从严治党注入不竭动力。以改革精神推进党的建设，强调以创新思维和方法深化党的建设制度改革，能够不断优化自身体制机制，清除党内存在的各种顽瘴痼疾，优化党内资源配置、提高执政效率、增强党的活力。《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》强调，党的领导是进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的根本保证。要深化党的建设制度改革，激励干部开拓进取、干事创业。面向未来，要继续以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想武装全党，通过建立常态化长效化的理论学习机制，提高干事创业的本领、激发担当作为的活力，着力解决“不善为”问题；深化干部人事制度改革，明确用人标准，鼓励创新和担当、宽容失误失败、奖惩分明，形成积极向上、公平公正、激励奋斗的用人风气等，着力化解“不愿为”难题；健全有效防范和纠治政绩观偏差工作机制，充分发挥党的纪律教育约束、保障激励作用，着力解决“乱作为、不作为”问题；建立健全容错纠错机制，落实“三个区分开来”，激励党员干部积极上进、担当作为，解决其“不敢为”问题。以改革精神推进全面从严治党，能够有效防止党内出现脱离群众、脱离实际的现象，有利于吸收群众智慧、凝聚群众力量，为全面从严治党提供坚实基础。

Take problems as the orientation, examine and evaluate oneself with a developmental perspective.

以问题为导向，用发展眼光审视评估自己

Alert oneself with a strong sense of urgency. Governing the Party must focus on responding to various challenges. Today’s world is marked by accelerating changes unseen in a century, with a complex and volatile international situation, arduous and heavy tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability, and endless emerging risks and challenges. For this reason, we must analyze and assess the situation with a developmental perspective, promptly adjust Party building strategies, and maintain strategic resolve and the correct direction. First, the international situation is intricate and complex, and global conditions are unpredictable. The international order is turbulent, with traditional and non-traditional security threats intertwined, frequent local conflicts and upheavals, and comprehensive containment, encirclement, and suppression of China by Western countries led by the United States. The Party must safeguard national and people’s interests in an increasingly complex environment, which places higher demands on the Party’s strategic thinking and response capabilities regarding security. Economic globalization is obstructed, anti-globalization sentiments are rising, unilateralism and protectionism are resurging, and the world economic recovery is weak. China faces more uncertainties in economic cooperation, trade exchanges, and the stability of industrial and supply chains, which imposes higher requirements on the Party’s economic governance capacity, international cooperation ability, and policy adjustment capability. Second, domestic society is undergoing profound transformation, and national conditions are changing rapidly. Currently, the weight of tasks for reform, development, and stability, as well as the multitude of contradictions, risks, and challenges, are unprecedented. The Party needs to continuously enhance its ability to handle complex situations. President Xi Jinping emphasized, “Political parties must closely integrate their own construction with national modernization, strive vigorously, act with courage and perseverance, and surpass themselves.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Jointly Shoulder the Responsibilities of the Times and Promote Global Development,” keynote speech at the High-level Dialogue between the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties, March 15, 2023. Social transformation has exacerbated issues such as the wealth gap and the urban-rural divide; social governance faces new problems, and traditional governance methods are difficult to apply, requiring the Party to innovate social governance approaches and enhance governance capacity; social transformation has led to more complex and diverse interest demands, and how to effectively coordinate and balance among different interest groups poses new challenges to the Party’s mass work and organizational work. Third, the Party’s own construction faces challenges. Globalization brings multiple social trends of thought, some of which contradict the Party’s principles. Coupled with the complexity of the online public opinion environment and the influence of harmful information, this has caused wavering ideals and convictions among some Party members and cadres. Young Party members are ideologically active, but some lack sufficient understanding of the Party’s history and traditions, and their sense of identification with and belonging to the Party needs strengthening. As social mobility increases, the management of Party members becomes more difficult, and some primary-level Party organizations are weak and lax. Corruption problems have taken on hidden and mutated forms, and the “Four Forms of Decadence” [2]2 The “Four Forms of Decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, which were the targets of a major Party-wide rectification campaign launched in 2013. still exist. Facing difficulties and challenges, we must always maintain the sobriety and resolve to govern the Party strictly and comprehensively.

以强烈的忧患意识警醒自己。管党治党要着眼于应对各种挑战，当今世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，国际形势复杂多变，国内改革发展稳定任务艰巨繁重，各种风险挑战层出不穷。为此，我们要用发展的眼光分析和研判形势，及时调整党的建设策略，保持战略定力和正确方向。一是国际形势错综复杂，世情变幻莫测。国际局势动荡不安，传统安全威胁与非传统安全威胁相互交织，局部冲突和动荡频发，以美国为首的西方国家对中国实施全方位的遏制、围堵和打压，党需要在更加复杂的环境中维护国家和人民的利益，这对党的安全战略思维和应对能力提出了更高要求。经济全球化受阻，逆全球化思潮抬头，单边主义、保护主义沉渣泛起，世界经济复苏乏力，中国在经济合作、贸易往来和产业链供应链稳定等方面面临更多不确定性，这对党的经济治理能力、国际合作能力和政策调整能力提出了更高要求。二是国内社会深刻变革，国情急速变化。当前，我国改革发展稳定任务之重、矛盾风险挑战之多前所未有，党需要不断提升应对复杂局面的能力。习近平主席强调，“政党要把自身建设和国家现代化建设紧密结合起来，踔厉奋发，勇毅笃行，超越自我”。社会变革加剧了贫富差距、城乡差距等问题；社会治理面临新问题，传统治理方式难以应对，党需要创新社会治理方式，提升治理能力；社会变革导致利益诉求更加复杂多样，如何在不同利益群体之间进行有效的协调平衡，对党的群众工作和组织工作提出了新的挑战。三是党的自身建设面临挑战。全球化带来多种社会思潮，部分思潮与党的理念相悖，叠加网络舆论环境复杂化及不良信息的影响，造成部分党员干部理想信念动摇；年轻党员思想活跃，但其中部分对党的历史和传统了解不足，对党的认同感和归属感有待加强；随着社会流动性增强，党员管理难度加大，部分基层党组织软弱涣散；腐败问题隐形变异，“四风”问题仍然存在。面对困难挑战，我们应时刻保持从严治党管党的清醒与坚定。

Examine oneself with the requirements of the times. Keeping pace with the times is the magic weapon for the Party to maintain its youthful vitality. Governing the Party must closely follow the pace of the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “We must insist on examining ourselves with the requirements of the times.” Party building also needs to continuously adapt to new social environments and situations. With the development of the new economy and new business forms, many new organizational models are emerging, such as the platform economy and the sharing economy. These new organizations challenge the Party’s traditional organizational construction model, and how to effectively carry out Party building work in these areas is a new topic. At the same time, the development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and blockchain imposes new requirements on the methods and content of Party building work, necessitating active exploration of new paths for integrating Party building with technology. These complex situations and challenges require continuous innovation in the methods of Party building. For example: deeply studying the application and innovation of Marxism in emerging fields such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and green development; innovating forms of theoretical propaganda, disseminating the Party’s theories through new media means such as short videos, animation, and live streaming; exploring the “big data + inspection” model, using information technology to improve the precision of problem detection during inspections; innovating the system for selecting and appointing cadres, exploring the establishment of a cadre “portrait” system, using big data analysis to comprehensively and objectively evaluate cadre performance, and so on.

以时代发展要求审视自己。与时俱进是党始终保持青春活力的法宝，管党治党要紧跟时代步伐，习近平总书记强调，“我们要坚持用时代发展要求审视自己”，党的建设也需要不断适应新的社会环境和形势。随着新经济、新业态的发展，许多新型组织模式不断涌现，如平台经济、共享经济等，这些新型组织对党传统的组织建设模式提出了挑战，如何在这些领域有效开展党建工作是一个新课题。同时，人工智能、大数据、云计算、区块链等新兴科技的发展，对党建工作的方式和内容提出了新要求，需要积极探索党建与科技融合的新路径。这些复杂形势与挑战，要求不断创新党的建设方式，例如：深入研究马克思主义在数字经济、人工智能、绿色发展等新兴领域的应用和创新；创新理论宣传形式，通过短视频、动漫、直播等新媒体手段传播党的理论；探索“大数据＋巡视”模式，利用信息化手段提高巡视发现问题的精准度；创新干部选拔任用制度，探索建立干部“画像”系统，通过大数据分析全面、客观地评价干部表现，等等。

Motivate oneself with the people’s aspiration for a better life. Governing the Party must be grounded in responding to the people’s aspiration for a better life. In the New Era, the people’s aspiration for a better life has undergone significant changes in many aspects: shifting from basic needs of having enough to eat, enough to wear, and a place to live, to higher-quality living conditions and a desire for the government to provide more efficient and convenient public services; increasingly higher demands for fair distribution, hoping to narrow the wealth gap and achieve common prosperity for all the people; growing demands for cultural and spiritual life, hoping to enjoy richer cultural and entertainment activities and higher-quality educational resources; increasingly higher demands for the rule of law and social fairness and justice, hoping for judicial fairness and strict law enforcement; increasingly higher demands for ecological and environmental quality, hoping for bluer skies, greener mountains, and cleaner water. The people’s aspiration for a better life is continuously upgrading, placing higher demands on the Party’s governance capacity. For this reason, we must continuously strengthen our own construction, improve our ability and level to serve the people, in order to meet the people’s growing needs in all aspects.

以人民对美好生活的向往砥砺自己。管党治党要落脚于回应人民对美好生活的向往。新时代人民对美好生活的向往在多个方面发生了很大变化，从吃饱穿暖有房住的基本需求，转向更舒适的居住条件等高品质生活，希望政府提供更加高效便捷的公共服务；对分配公平的要求越来越高，希望缩小贫富差距，实现全体人民共同富裕；对精神文化生活的需求日益增长，希望能够享有更丰富的文化娱乐活动、更优质的教育资源；对法治建设和社会公平正义的要求越来越高，希望司法公正、执法严格；对生态环境质量的要求越来越高，希望天更蓝、山更青、水更绿。人民对美好生活的向往不断升级，对党的执政能力提出了更高要求，为此，我们要不断加强自身建设，提高服务人民的能力和水平，以满足人民日益增长的各方面需求。

Take innovation as the key, use the reform spirit to improve and elevate oneself.

以创新为关键，用改革精神完善提升自己

Innovate the thinking and concepts of governing the Party. In Party building, one must dare to break through old models and frameworks, and bravely explore new methods and paths. It is first necessary to bravely innovate concepts and ideas. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has proposed a series of new concepts for governing the Party, as well as the strategy of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, incorporating it into the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy [3]3 The Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy (四个全面) is a strategic framework for China’s development, comprising: comprehensively building a modern socialist country, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively governing the nation according to law, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. as an important component, long-term strategy, and eternal subject of governance. He proposed that the Party’s self-revolution is the second answer to escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall, [4]4 The “historical cycle of rise and fall” refers to the pattern observed in Chinese dynastic history of a ruling house rising, flourishing, and then declining and collapsing. Mao Zedong discussed this with Huang Yanpei in 1945; Xi Jinping has framed the Party’s self-re emphasizing leading the great social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution. He emphasized the Party’s overall leadership, insisting that the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the highest political principle. He advocated punishing corruption with a zero-tolerance attitude, insisting on the integrated advancement of the “Three Non-Corruptions,” [5]5 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024, focusing on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese-path modernization. simultaneously exerting efforts in punishment and deterrence, institutional constraints, and raising awareness. He promoted the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style construction, continuously rectifying the “Four Forms of Decadence.” He strengthened the construction of the intra-Party regulations system, making rule-based governance of the Party the basic method of governing the Party, so that the Party’s institutional advantages are better transformed into practical effectiveness in governance. In addition, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee [6]6 The “Four Forms of Decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, which were the target of a major rectification campaign launched after the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012. proposed “persisting in governing the Party with a reform spirit and strict standards,” which are continuous innovations in the thinking and concepts of governing the Party. These concepts are not only the inheritance and development of traditional concepts of governing the Party but also the result of exploring new laws and characteristics of Party building in combination with new practices in the New Era, forming a theoretical system of Party building that keeps pace with the times, providing scientific guidance for Party building in the New Era.

革新管党治党思路理念。在党的建设中，要敢于突破旧有的模式和框架、勇于探索新的方法和路径，必须首先勇于革新观念思维。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记提出了一系列管党治党的新理念，以及全面从严治党战略，将全面从严治党纳入“四个全面”战略布局，并以此作为治国理政的重要内容、长期战略和永恒课题。提出党的自我革命是跳出历史兴衰周期率的第二个答案，强调以党的自我革命引领伟大社会革命。强调党的全面领导，坚持党中央集中统一领导是最高政治原则。以零容忍态度惩治腐败，坚持“三不腐”一体推进，惩治震慑、制度约束、提高觉悟一体发力。推进作风建设常态化长效化，持续纠治“四风”。加强党内法规制度建设，把依规治党当作管党治党基本方式，使党的制度优势更好转化为治国理政的实际效能。此外，党的二十届三中全会提出的“坚持用改革精神与严的标准管党治党”等，都是对管党治党思路理念的不断创新。这些理念既是对传统治党理念的继承和发展，更是结合新时代新实践探索党的建设新规律新特点的结果，形成了与时俱进的党建理论体系，为新时代党的建设提供了科学指引。

Innovate the methods and approaches of governing the Party. First, adhere to comprehensive measures, with ideological Party building and institutional governance of the Party working in the same direction, and ruling the Party with virtue and ruling the Party with regulations advancing side by side. Strengthen ideological armament, persist in using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to solidify the soul, “strengthen the armed forces with the Party’s innovative theory, establish and improve a long-term mechanism for learning to cast the soul, learning to increase wisdom, learning to correct the style, and learning to promote work.” [7]7 The Four Consciousnesses (四个意识) are the consciousness of the need to maintain political commitment, think in terms of the big picture, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. Deepen the reform of the Party building system, improve a comprehensive and strict governance of the Party system covering organization, education, supervision, institutions, and responsibilities, forming a dynamic system of intra-Party governance. Second, adhere to the simultaneous use of positive incentives and punishment accountability. Study and formulate implementation measures for the “Three Distinctions,” [8]8 The Two Upholds (两个维护) are upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and upholding the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping in the Party Central Committee and the Party as a whole. clarify the policy boundaries and applicable situations for fault tolerance and error correction, and encourage cadres to start businesses and take initiative; standardize accountability procedures, and seriously hold accountable those who neglect their duties or commit dereliction. Third, focus on internal and external linkage. While emphasizing the Party’s own construction, also strengthen interaction with the external environment. Through extensive contacts and cooperation with all sectors of society, draw on external wisdom and strength, and promote the mutual promotion and coordinated development of Party building with economic and social development, social governance, and other aspects of work.

创新管党治党方式方法。一是坚持综合施策，思想建党和制度治党同向发力，以德治党和依规治党并驾齐驱。强化思想武装，坚持用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想凝心铸魂，“加强党的创新理论武装，建立健全以学铸魂、以学增智、以学正风、以学促干长效机制”。深化党的建设制度改革，健全涵盖组织、教育、监管、制度、责任等多方面的全面从严治党体系，形成党内治理的动态系统。二是坚持正向激励与惩处问责并举。研究制定落实“三个区分开来”的实施办法，明确容错纠错的政策边界和适用情形，激励干部干事创业；规范问责程序，严肃问责失职失责行为。三是注重内外联动。重视党内自身建设的同时，又加强与外部环境的互动，通过与社会各界的广泛联系与合作，汲取外部智慧和力量，推动党的建设与经济社会发展、社会治理等各方面工作相互促进、协调发展。

Deepen the reform of the system for governing the Party and exercising self-supervision. Against the backdrop of the New Era, in order to better adapt to the development of the times and improve the Party’s leadership capacity and governing competence, a series of important reform measures have been successively introduced and smoothly implemented. The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [5]5 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024, focusing on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese-path modernization. “takes mobilizing the entire Party’s enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity in pursuing reform and promoting development as the focal point, and makes arrangements for deepening the reform of the system for governing the Party and exercising self-supervision.” Deepen the reform of the organizational system, further address new problems faced by Party building at the grassroots level, and explore effective methods for Party building in “new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new employment groups.” Deepen the reform of the inspection and disciplinary inspection system, promote full coverage of inspections and disciplinary inspections, strengthen the application of inspection rectification and its results, and form a deterrent effect. Improve the coordination mechanism for anti-corruption efforts, strengthen international cooperation against corruption, perfect anti-corruption laws and regulations, deeply advance the simultaneous investigation and governance of misconduct and corruption, enrich effective methods for combating new types of corruption and hidden corruption, and form a long-term anti-corruption mechanism. Optimize the system for selecting and appointing cadres, improve the mechanisms for cadre selection and appointment and the cadre assessment and evaluation system, and perfect the mechanism for tolerating and correcting errors in cadre work. Deepen the improvement of work style, continuously rectify the “Four Forms of Decadence” [6]6 The “Four Forms of Decadence” (四风) refers to formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, which were the target of a major rectification campaign launched after the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012., promote the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style improvement, and perfect the system for Party members and cadres to directly maintain contact with the masses. By deepening the reform of the system for governing the Party and exercising self-supervision, our Party will further enhance its capacity for self-revolution, providing a strong political guarantee for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

深化管党治党制度改革。新时代背景下，为了更好地适应时代发展、提高党的领导水平和执政能力，一系列重要改革举措相继推出并平稳落地。党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》“以调动全党抓改革、促发展的积极性、主动性、创造性为着力点，就深化管党治党制度改革作出部署”。深化组织制度改革，进一步解决基层党的建设面临的新问题，探索抓好“新经济组织、新社会组织、新就业群体”党的建设的有效方法。深化巡视巡察制度改革，推进巡视巡察全覆盖，强化巡视整改和成果运用，形成震慑效应。健全反腐败协调机制，加强反腐败国际合作，完善反腐败法律法规，深入推进风腐同查同治，丰富防治新型腐败和隐性腐败有效办法，形成反腐败长效机制。优化干部选拔任用制度，完善干部选拔任用机制、干部考核评价体系，完善干部容错纠错机制。深化作风建设，持续整治“四风”，推动作风建设常态化、长效化，完善党员干部直接联系群众制度。通过深化管党治党制度改革，我们党将进一步增强自我革命能力，为实现中华民族伟大复兴提供坚强政治保证。

Take practice as the foundation, and use strict standards to demand and restrain oneself.

以实践为根本，用严的标准要求约束自己

Strictness in standards. Standards determine quality; only with high standards can there be high quality. First, strict political standards. Political standards are a comprehensive requirement for political loyalty, political resolve, and political responsibility, and are an important guarantee for ensuring that the cause of the Party and the state advances in the correct direction. Therefore, it is necessary to uphold political standards as the primary standard. Political standards mean examining “whether one can uphold the Party’s leadership, resolutely safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and consciously maintain a high degree of alignment with the Party Central Committee in thought, politics, and action.” Second, strict ideological standards. This requires Party members to establish a correct worldview, outlook on life, and value system, consciously arm their minds with the Party’s innovative theories, continuously improve their ideological and political awareness, and always remain loyal to the Party. Third, strict organizational standards. It is necessary to demand cadres with strict standards, enabling Party members and cadres to consciously obey the arrangements and decisions of Party organizations, “doing whatever the Party asks, going wherever the Party sends them, treating wherever there is work as home, without a second word and without any complaint.” Fourth, strict behavioral standards. Behavioral standards are the specific norms that Party members and cadres should follow in their daily work and life. Strict behavioral standards are a key link in ensuring that comprehensive and strict governance of the Party achieves tangible results. “The greatest interests of the vast majority of the people are the highest standard of truth and the highest standard for all actions of our Party members.” Fifth, strict standards for the Party’s work style. “Do Party spirit and cadre work style have standards? They do.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the central authorities have successively introduced a series of systems, including the Eight-Point Regulations and the reform of official vehicle use; these are all new standards for work style.

标准从严。标准决定质量，高标准才有高质量。一是严格政治标准。政治标准是对政治忠诚、政治定力、政治担当等的综合要求，是确保党和国家事业沿着正确方向前进的重要保障。因此，必须坚持政治标准是第一标准。政治标准就是看“能不能坚持党的领导，坚决维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，自觉在思想上政治上行动上同党中央保持高度一致”。二是严格思想标准。这就要求党员树立正确的世界观、人生观、价值观，自觉用党的创新理论武装头脑，不断提高思想政治觉悟，始终做到对党忠诚。三是严格组织标准。要坚持以严的标准要求干部，使党员干部自觉服从党组织的安排和决定，“党叫干啥就干啥、党让去哪就去哪，哪里有事业哪里就是家，没有二话，毫无怨言”。四是严格行为标准。行为标准是党员干部在日常工作生活中应遵循的具体规范，严格行为标准是确保全面从严治党取得实效的关键环节，“最广大人民群众的最大利益，即是真理的最高标准，即是我们党员一切行动的最高标准”。五是严明党的作风标准。“党员的党性有没有标准？干部的作风有没有标准？都是有的。”党的十八大以来，中央相继出台的中央八项规定、公务用车改革等一系列制度，这些都是作风新标准。

Strictness in content. The foundation of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party lies in comprehensiveness. First, comprehensive in scope of coverage. The Party has always maintained consistency between the construction of the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and the overall layout of Party building. Governing and supervising the Party comprehensively and strictly covers all aspects of Party building, exercising strictness in all areas and all fields. Strictness in political building: strictly enforce the Party’s political discipline and political rules, firmly establish the Four Consciousnesses [7]7 The Four Consciousnesses (四个意识) are the consciousness of the need to maintain political commitment, think in terms of the big picture, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership., resolutely achieve the Two Upholds [8]8 The Two Upholds (两个维护) are upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and upholding the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping in the Party Central Committee and the Party as a whole., and strengthen political supervision. Strictness in ideological building: arm the entire Party with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, supplement the calcium of the spirit [9]9 “Supplement the calcium of the spirit” (补足精神之钙) is a metaphor used by Xi Jinping, comparing ideals and convictions to calcium, which is essential for the spiritual health of Party members. and solidify the foundation of faith. Strictness in organizational building: improve the organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and has strong execution, strictly enforce standards for Party member development, and more solidly adhere to the basic systems of the Party’s organizational life. Strictness in work style building: continuously rectify work style, strictly implement the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations, and rectify the “Four Forms of Decadence.” Strictness in discipline building: uphold that discipline is stricter than law, and integrate the enforcement of discipline and law. Strictness in the fight against corruption: always maintain a high-pressure stance against corruption. Strictness in institutional building: improve a scientific, complete, effective, and practical system for governing the Party and exercising self-supervision, and deepen the reform of the system of intra-Party regulations. Second, comprehensive in targets. Governing and supervising the Party comprehensively and strictly covers all Party members and Party organizations at all levels, regardless of position or nature of the post, applying strict requirements equally; focus on the “key minority” [10]10 “Key minority” (关键少数) refers to leading cadres at and above the county and regiment level, who are seen as having a decisive influence on the implementation of Party policies., strengthen the supervision and management of leading Party cadres, especially senior cadres and “first-in-charge” officials; extend to grassroots organizations, continuously rectify weak and lax grassroots Party organizations.

内容从严。全面从严治党，基础在全面。一是覆盖范围全面。党始终将全面从严治党体系的构建与党的建设总体布局保持一致，全面从严管党治党涵盖党的建设各个方面，全方位、全领域从严。政治建设从严，严明党的政治纪律和政治规矩，牢固树立“四个意识”，坚决做到“两个维护”，强化政治监督。思想建设从严，用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想武装全党，补足精神之钙、筑牢信仰之基。组织建设从严，健全上下贯通、执行有力的组织体系，严格党员发展标准，更加扎实地坚持党的组织生活基本制度。作风建设从严，持续整饬作风，严格落实中央八项规定精神，整治“四风”问题。纪律建设从严，坚持纪严于法、执纪执法贯通。反腐败斗争从严，始终保持反腐败高压态势。制度建设从严，健全科学完备、有效管用的管党治党制度体系，深化党内法规制度建设改革。二是对象全面。从严管党治党覆盖全体党员和各级党组织，无论职务高低、岗位性质，都一视同仁严格要求；聚焦“关键少数”，加强对党员领导干部特别是高级干部、“一把手”等的监督和管理；延伸到基层组织，持续整顿软弱涣散基层党组织。

Strictness in process. First, the entire process from Party membership to management. Strictly control the entire process from a Party member’s application for membership, through investigation and cultivation, development into the Party, to post-membership education, management, supervision, and discipline enforcement. In the process of Party member development, strictly examine the motivation for joining the Party, political quality, and mass foundation, ensuring the high quality of new Party members; in Party member management, strengthen daily supervision and education of Party members through organizational life meetings, democratic evaluation of Party members, and other means, promptly identifying and correcting problems. Second, the entire process from decision-making to implementation. In the Party’s decision-making process, adhere to high standards and strict requirements, strictly implement the principle of democratic centralism, and ensure that decisions are scientific, democratic, and lawful; in the decision implementation process, strengthen the implementation of responsibilities and the execution of systems, ensuring that all decisions and deployments are implemented; in the supervision and implementation process, strengthen the implementation of responsibilities and the execution of systems, and consolidate responsibilities; in the accountability process, discipline inspection and supervision agencies, through carrying out special supervision, inspections, and disciplinary inspections, promptly identify and correct problems, strengthen supervision, discipline enforcement, and accountability over Party organizations and Party members and cadres at all levels, ensuring that measures for governing and supervising the Party are implemented.

过程从严。一是从入党到管理的全过程。严格把关从党员的入党申请、考察培养、发展入党，到入党后的教育管理、监督执纪的全过程。在党员发展过程中，严格考察入党动机、政治素质和群众基础，确保新党员质量过硬；在党员管理中，通过组织生活会、民主评议党员等方式，加强对党员的日常监督和教育，及时发现和纠正问题。二是从决策到执行的全过程。在党的决策环节，坚持高标准、严要求，严格执行民主集中制原则，确保决策科学、民主、合法；在决策执行环节，强化责任落实与制度执行，确保各项决策部署落到实处；在监督落实环节，强化责任落实和制度执行，压实责任；在问责环节，纪检监察机关通过开展专项监督、巡视巡察等方式，及时发现和纠正问题，加强对各级党组织和党员干部的监督执纪问责，确保管党治党措施落实到位。

Conclusion

结语

Having endured a century without losing vitality, and weathered many vicissitudes without abandoning its original aspiration. More than one hundred years of history have repeatedly proven that the code for the Communist Party of China to maintain its youthful vitality is to advance the Party’s own construction with a reform spirit; the secret for the Party to firm up its ideals and convictions and “preserve the freshness” of its original aspiration is self-revolution, demanding and restraining itself with strict standards, confining power to the cage of institutions, and governing and supervising the Party strictly. Against the backdrop of the accelerated evolution of changes unseen in a century, for the Communist Party of China to achieve long-term governance, it must persist in advancing the Party’s self-revolution, seeking vitality and momentum from the reform spirit, and seeking cohesion and combat effectiveness from strict standards, thereby providing a fundamental guarantee for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.

历经百年而活力不减，饱经沧桑仍初心不改。一百多年的历史反复证明，中国共产党永葆青春活力的密码是以改革精神推进党自身的建设；党坚定理想信念、“保鲜”初心的秘诀是自我革命，以严的标准要求自己、约束自己，把权力关进制度的笼子，从严管党治党。在世界百年未有之大变局加速演进的背景下，中国共产党要实现长期执政，就必须坚持推进党的自我革命，向改革精神要活力和动力，向严的标准要凝聚力和战斗力，为以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业提供根本保证。

(The author is a researcher at the Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Henan Province)

（作者系河南省中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心研究员）

Online Editor: Ma Jingren

网络编辑：马京仁