Focus on Strengthening the Party's Leadership over Reform

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, sets forth the overall goal of further deepening reform comprehensively, emphasizing "focusing on raising the Party's level of leadership and long-term governance capacity, innovating and improving leadership methods and governance methods, deepening the reform of the Party building system, and perfecting the system for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party"; it puts forward the principles for further deepening reform comprehensively, stressing "upholding the Party's overall leadership, firmly safeguarding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and giving play to the Party's core leadership role in exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides"; it sets forth clear requirements for "raising the Party's level of leadership over further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization", emphasizing that "the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization". To thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the plenary session, it is necessary to deeply understand the important significance of strengthening the Party's leadership over reform, to grasp holistically the intrinsic relationship between the Party's leadership and further deepening reform comprehensively, to integrate the Party's leadership into all aspects and the entire process of reform, and to ensure that the Party always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

党的二十届三中全会审议通过的《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》（以下简称《决定》）提出进一步全面深化改革的总目标，强调“聚焦提高党的领导水平和长期执政能力，创新和改进领导方式和执政方式，深化党的建设制度改革，健全全面从严治党体系”；提出进一步全面深化改革的原则，强调“坚持党的全面领导，坚定维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用”；对“提高党对进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的领导水平”提出明确要求，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”。深入学习贯彻全会精神，就要深刻认识加强党对改革的领导的重要意义，整体把握党的领导与进一步全面深化改革的内在关系，把党的领导贯穿改革各方面全过程，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 Party's advanced nature determines that the Party's leadership over reform must be strengthened

党的先进性决定了必须加强党对改革的领导

Reform and opening up has no finish line, only a continuous process. Strengthening the Party's leadership over reform is determined by the Party's advanced nature and purity. Our Party represents the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the Chinese people, has no special interests of its own, and has never represented the interests of any interest group, any power clique, or any privileged stratum. This is a distinctive mark distinguishing our Party, as a Marxist political party, from other political parties.

改革开放只有进行时，没有完成时。加强党对改革的领导，是由党的先进性与纯洁性所决定的。我们党代表中国最广大人民根本利益，没有任何自己特殊的利益，从来不代表任何利益集团、任何权势团体、任何特权阶层的利益。这是我们党作为马克思主义政党区别于其他政党的显著标志。

In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels already demonstrated the advanced nature and purity of communists and their positive role in social development. The advanced nature of communists is manifested not only theoretically in their understanding and grasp of the conditions, process, and general results of the entire proletarian movement, but also practically in their always being "the most resolute and always driving part." [1]1 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto* (1848). The advanced nature of a Marxist political party determines its thorough revolutionary character, determines that it possesses the gene for courageously advancing reform, inevitably continuously promotes and leads human society forward, promptly reforms relations of production that are incompatible with the development of productive forces, and constantly stimulates and enhances social vitality.

在《共产党宣言》中，马克思、恩格斯就论证了共产党人的先进性与纯洁性及其在社会发展中的积极作用。共产党人的先进性不仅表现为理论方面对整个无产阶级运动的条件、进程和一般结果的理解和把握，而且还表现为实践层面始终是“最坚决的、始终起推动作用的部分”。马克思主义政党的先进性决定了其具有彻底的革命性，决定了其具有勇于推进改革的基因，必然持续推动、引领人类社会向前发展，及时改革与生产力不相适应的生产关系，不断激发和增强社会活力。

For over 100 years, the Communist Party of China has steadfastly adhered to its original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. This is the greatest driving force behind the Party's courage to continuously push reform forward. Looking back at history, whether it was revolution, construction, or reform, all were carried out under the Party's leadership. Under the new historical conditions, to ensure that the reform tasks set forth in the Decision are completed by the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2029, and to promote more obvious substantive progress in people's all-round development and common prosperity for all, it is necessary to consciously safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, to have the courage to break down interest barriers and overcome institutional and mechanistic obstacles, and to continue pushing reform forward.

100多年来，中国共产党始终坚守为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴的初心使命，这是我们党勇于将改革不断推向前进的最大动力。回望历史，无论是革命、建设还是改革，都是在党的领导下进行的。在新的历史条件下，为确保到2029年中华人民共和国成立80周年时完成《决定》提出的改革任务，推动人的全面发展、全体人民共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展，必须自觉维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，勇于打破利益藩篱、突破体制机制障碍，继续把改革推向前进。

Upholding the Party's overall leadership is a valuable experience and an important principle

坚持党的全面领导是宝贵经验和重要原则

Upholding the Party's overall leadership is a valuable experience gained since reform and opening up, especially from the comprehensive deepening of reform in the New Era, and is also an important principle that must be implemented in further deepening reform comprehensively. Whether it was the shift in the focus of the Party and state's work in the early period of reform and opening up, or the initiation of a new journey of comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era and promoting reform through systematic and holistic design, all highlight the Party's leading role in reform. This is also the fundamental reason why our country has been able to promote reform of such a wide scope, such a large scale, and such great intensity in such a short period of time. Precisely because of consistently adhering to the Party's centralized, unified leadership, comprehensive deepening of reform has been able to achieve historic accomplishments in various fields, including economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, ecological civilization construction, and Party building, and ensure that the reform goals and tasks proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee were generally completed on schedule. [2]2 The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC, held in November 2013, adopted the "Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms," which set forth a comprehensive reform agenda.

坚持党的全面领导，是改革开放以来特别是新时代全面深化改革的宝贵经验，也是进一步全面深化改革必须贯彻的重要原则。无论是改革开放初期党和国家工作中心的转移，还是开启新时代全面深化改革、系统整体设计推进改革新征程，都凸显党对改革的领导作用。这也是我国能在这么短时间内推动这么大范围、这么大规模、这么大力度改革的根本原因。正因为始终坚持党的集中统一领导，全面深化改革才得以在经济建设、政治建设、文化建设、社会建设、生态文明建设、党的建设等各领域取得历史性成就，并确保党的十八届三中全会提出的改革目标任务总体如期完成。

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China closely focused on the theme of advancing Chinese-path modernization to map out strategic measures for further deepening reform comprehensively. To turn the grand blueprint into a beautiful reality, it is necessary to uphold the Party's overall leadership. Further deepening reform comprehensively is a continuation built upon the major achievements of over 40 years of reform and opening up, especially the comprehensive deepening of reform since the New Era. "Further" not only reflects the continuity, stage-by-stage nature, and sustainability of our country's reform, but also embodies the great intensity, deep degree, and wide scope of our country's reform. Especially after the comprehensive deepening of reform since the New Era, current reform has entered the "deepest part of the deep water zone," [3]3 A common Chinese political metaphor for the most difficult and risky stage of reform, where vested interests and deep-seated institutional obstacles are concentrated. and what it faces are no longer shallow, partial problems, but deep-seated institutional and mechanistic issues. To ensure that reform always advances along the correct political direction, neither taking the old path of closed-door rigidity nor the evil path of changing the banner, it is necessary to more consciously uphold the Party's overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, enhance the Four Consciousnesses, strengthen the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds, fully giving play to the Party's core leadership role in exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides.

党的二十届三中全会紧紧围绕推进中国式现代化这个主题擘画进一步全面深化改革战略举措。要把宏伟蓝图变为美好现实，必须坚持党的全面领导。进一步全面深化改革是在改革开放40多年特别是新时代以来全面深化改革取得重大成就基础上继续推进的。“进一步”不仅反映了我国改革的连续性、阶段性和持续性，还体现出我国改革的力度之大、程度之深、范围之广。特别是经过新时代以来的全面深化改革，当前改革已进入“深水区最深处”,所面对的不再是浅层次的局部问题，而是深层次的体制机制问题。为确保改革始终沿着正确政治方向前进，既不走封闭僵化的老路，又不走改旗易帜的邪路，就必须更加自觉坚持党的全面领导和党中央集中统一领导，深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用。

Building a stronger and more powerful Marxist political party

建设更加坚强有力的马克思主义政党

The Party exercises leadership over everything: Party, government, military, civilian, and academic affairs, east, west, south, north, and center. The Party's leading status and role determine that building the Party well and building it strong is of utmost importance. Since the New Era, under the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, not only has a completely new situation for our country's reform and opening up been successfully created, and new chapters written in the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, but the Party has also become stronger and more powerful through revolutionary tempering. It can be said that strengthening the Party's leadership and Party building are advanced simultaneously. On the one hand, while promoting the development of the Party and state's cause through reform, the Party persists in strengthening and improving its own construction and advancing the reform of the Party building system. On the other hand, raising the Party's level of leadership and long-term governance capacity, and innovating and improving leadership methods and governance methods, are also intrinsic requirements of further deepening reform comprehensively.

党政军民学，东西南北中，党是领导一切的。党的领导地位和作用，决定了把党建设好、建设强至关重要。新时代以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央集中统一领导下，不仅成功开创了我国改革开放全新局面，书写了经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹新篇章，而且使党在革命性锻造中变得更加坚强有力。可以说，加强党的领导与党的建设是同步推进的。一方面，党在通过改革推动党和国家事业发展的同时，坚持加强和改进党的自身建设，推进党的建设制度改革。另一方面，提高党的领导水平和长期执政能力，创新和改进领导方式和执政方式，也是进一步全面深化改革的内在要求。

It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. [4]4 A Chinese proverb, often used by Xi Jinping, meaning that one must be competent and strong oneself to accomplish difficult tasks. The more critical and crucial the moment of reform becomes, the more necessary it is to fully carry forward the spirit of self-revolution and persistently advance comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Reviewing the course of reform and opening up, it can be seen that from advancing the reform of the Party and state leadership system to deepening the reform of Party and state institutions, our Party, in the process of reform, has not only continuously pushed forward the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but has also continuously strengthened and optimized the Party's leadership over work in various fields and aspects. On the new journey of the New Era, facing various risks and challenges on the path ahead and the unique problems that a large party must solve, it is even more necessary to combine the great cause with the great project, [5]5 "The great cause" refers to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics; "the great project" refers to the project of Party building. making unified plans, systematic arrangements, and holistic advancements, and while continuing to push reform forward around the Party's central work, build a stronger and more powerful Marxist political party.

打铁还需自身硬。越是到了改革的紧要关头、关键时刻，就越需要充分发扬自我革命精神，持之以恒推进全面从严治党。回顾改革开放的历程可见，从推进党和国家领导制度改革到深化党和国家机构改革，我们党在改革进程中不仅将中国特色社会主义伟大事业不断推向前进，而且持续加强和优化了党对各领域各方面工作的领导。新时代新征程，面对前进道路上各种风险挑战和大党必须解决的独有难题，更应把伟大事业与伟大工程相结合，统一部署、系统规划、整体推进，在围绕党的中心工作继续把改革推向前进的同时，建设更加坚强有力的马克思主义政党。

Leading the great social revolution with the Party's great self-revolution

以党的伟大自我革命引领伟大社会革命

Only reformers advance; only innovators are strong; only those who reform and innovate prevail. [6]6 A slogan frequently used by Xi Jinping to emphasize the importance of reform and innovation. Chinese-path modernization is a socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China. Further deepening reform comprehensively around advancing Chinese-path modernization inevitably includes strengthening the Party's own construction and advancing the Party's self-revolution. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made strategic deployments for "unswervingly exercising comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and deepening the great new project of Party building in the New Era." [7]7 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. The Decision emphasizes, "maintaining a high degree of consciousness in leading the social revolution with the Party's self-revolution, adhering to using the reform spirit and strict standards to govern the Party, perfecting the institutional normative system for the Party's self-revolution, and continuously advancing the Party's self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement." Focusing on strengthening the Party's leadership over reform, and leading the great social revolution with the Party's great self-revolution, will surely promote the steady and enduring progress of the Party and state's cause.

惟改革者进，惟创新者强，惟改革创新者胜。中国式现代化是中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化，围绕推进中国式现代化进一步全面深化改革必然包括加强党的自身建设、推进党的自我革命。党的二十大报告对“坚定不移全面从严治党，深入推进新时代党的建设新的伟大工程”作了战略部署。《决定》强调，“保持以党的自我革命引领社会革命的高度自觉，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，不断推进党的自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高”。注重加强党对改革的领导，以党的伟大自我革命引领伟大社会革命，必将推动党和国家事业行稳致远。

On the one hand, uphold the Party Central Committee’s centralized, unified leadership over further deepening reform comprehensively, and improve the implementation mechanism for the Party Central Committee’s major decisions and deployments. Thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new ideas, new viewpoints, and new conclusions on comprehensively deepening reform, ensure that the Party Central Committee’s various decisions and deployments on further deepening reform comprehensively take root and bear fruit, and effectively transform institutional advantages into governance effectiveness. On the other hand, take the Party’s political construction as the guide, take the improvement of the Party’s self-revolution institutional and regulatory system as the focus, and take leading the great social revolution as the goal, unremittingly grasp the Party’s ideological construction, organizational construction, work style construction, and discipline construction, and unswervingly advance the fight against corruption. By upholding and improving the Party Central Committee’s centralized, unified leadership, perfecting the implementation mechanism, continuously and deeply advancing the reform of the Party’s construction system, and constantly improving the Party’s leadership level over further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization.

一方面，坚持党中央对进一步全面深化改革的集中统一领导，完善党中央重大决策部署落实机制。深入学习贯彻习近平总书记关于全面深化改革的一系列新思想、新观点、新论断，推动党中央关于进一步全面深化改革的各项决策部署落地生根，切实把制度优势更好转化为治理效能。另一方面，以党的政治建设为统领，以党的自我革命制度规范体系完善为重点，以引领伟大社会革命为目的，坚持不懈抓好党的思想建设、组织建设、作风建设、纪律建设，坚定不移推进反腐败斗争。通过坚持和完善党中央集中统一领导，健全贯彻落实机制，持续深入推进党的建设制度改革，不断提高党对进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的领导水平。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗