The Sixth Plenum of the 13th CPC Central Committee

The Sixth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held in Beijing from March 9 to 12, adopted a decision on strengthening the ties between the Party and the people.

In a communique released at the end of the session, the Central Committee urged Party organizations at all levels to pay special attention to the solution of problems of most concern to the masses as a practical move to close the ties between the Party and the masses.

The communique listed the following seven aspects in which the ties between the Party and the people are to be strengthened:

1. Adhere to the practice of "coming from the masses and going to the masses," and establish and perfect a democratic and scientific process of policy making and implementation, so as to ensure that such policy making and implementation are in line with the interests of the people.

2. Leading cadres at all levels must persist in the system of frequently going down to the grassroots units and going among the masses, and work in a down-to-earth manner so that the Party's line, principles and policies are implemented with tangible results.

3. Persistently strengthen the building of socialist democracy and legal system in the course of deepening the political restructuring, and make vigorous efforts to keep open and broaden channels by which the Party maintains its ties with the people.

4. Continue with unswerving efforts to strengthen the building of an honest and clean government and improve the Party's style of work, and energetically carry on the spirit of hard work, so as to overcome the negative and corruptive practices existing within the Party.

5. Establish and perfect the system of supervision within and without the Party, and strengthen supervision over leading organizations and leading officials at various levels.

6. Bring into full play the role of grassroots Party organizations as fighting strongholds and the exemplary role of Party members in mobilizing the masses and organizing and leading them forward.

7. Conduct within the Party extensive and deep-going education on the Marxist point of view concerning the masses so that members can follow the Party's mass line more consciously.

The communique pointed out that at a time when the work defined by the fourth and fifth plenums (held last June and November respectively) of the 13th CPC Central Committee is being done in all fields and various undertakings are developing in a sound way, issuing an earnest call to the whole Party for closing the links between the Party and the people and making a relevant decision is of immediate significance to achieving further political, economic and social stability and developement in the country.

Such closer ties would also exert a far-reaching influence on achieving the Party's general goals in the new period of historical development and pushing forward the great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On the whole, the session said, the relations between the Party and the masses and between the cadres and the masses have been good. But bureaucratism, subjectivism, formalism, passivism, corruption and other serious phenomena that tend to drive the Party and the masses apart have grown among some Party organizations and Party functionaries in recent years.

The session urged all Party members to keep high vigilance against these phenomena, fight unremittingly against them and make every effort to restore and develop the Party's fine tradition and working style of maintaining close ties with the masses.

The 1990s will be a decade crucial to China's development. Despite a changeable world situation and the temporary domestic difficulties, China will surely establish itself in an unassailable position provided no. time is lost in attending to domestic affairs, most notably the national economy, said the communique.

(NO. 12 MARCH 19, 1990, title: "Party Calls for Closer Ties With the People")