The Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) closed in Beijing on September 18, with pledges to expand intra-Party democracy and resolutely fight corruption.

A total of 194 full members and 163 alternate members of the committee, the Party's top decision-making body, attended the four-day plenum, which was presided over by its Political Bureau. Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report at the meeting.

The plenum endorsed the CPC Central Committee's decision on strengthening and improving Party building under the new circumstances.

A communiqué issued at the end of the plenum emphasized that the mission to strictly manage the Party had never been so pressing.

Arduous task

The communiqué acknowledged that quite a few problems existed inside the Party, which ran counter to new circumstances and the Party's nature and were weakening the Party's creativity, unity and effectiveness.

It said these drawbacks were also "severely" harming ties between the Party and people and the Party's ability to consolidate its rule.

The communiqué said given the many changes happening in the world, the country and the Party, new requirements have been raised for Party-building. All Party members should be aware of and vigilant about problems and solve them as quickly as possible.

The new circumstances were summarized by the communiqué as "long-term, complicated and tough tests" for the CPC's ruling capability, its reform and opening-up policy, adoption of a market economy and adaptation to outside circumstances.

It urged Party members to be innovative, creative and to never stand still.

Intra-Party democracy

The communiqué said internal democracy was "the lifeblood of the Party" and centralized and unified leadership was the guarantee of the Party's strength.

It said the CPC would firmly push forward intra-Party democracy by sticking to "democratic centralism," with democracy as a base and centralism as a guide.

The Party must ensure the democratic rights and the central role of its members and strengthen intra-Party democracy at grassroots level.

It would "extensively absorb the will and views of all Party members and bring their initiative and creativity into full play," the communiqué said. "The CPC will ensure the unity of people of all ethnic groups by intensifying the Party's strength and unity."

The communiqué also said the Party would uphold and improve its leadership system.

At the same time, it will also improve the systems of the Party congress, Party officials' elections and democratic decision-making mechanisms within the CPC.

It said the Party must stick to democratic, open, competitive, credible, merit-based and vigorous mechanisms of selecting Party officials to foster more excellent cadres.

Moral integrity should be highlighted when selecting officials and their ability to "promote scientific development and social harmony" should be improved, it added.

The communiqué said the Party's grassroots organizations were the foundation for the entire Party and its strength, and were "fighting bastions" in implementing CPC policies.

Efforts should be made to boost the vitality of grassroots Party committees and members, it said.

Fighting corruption

The CPC Central Committee also vowed to resolutely fight corruption and "fully explore the arduous and complicated nature of the combat against corruption."

The communiqué said the fight against corruption was a "crucial political task" that the Party must always endeavor to win.

It said anti-corruption work and the upholding of integrity must be strengthened and efforts must be made to "address both the symptoms and root causes of corruption."

The prevention of corruption should be strengthened by reinforcing education, supervision, reform and institutional innovation in the field, the communiqué said.

The Party should also enhance officials' self-discipline and exert greater efforts in dealing with cases that violate the law and CPC discipline, it said.

Promoting economy

"China's economy is recovering from the global downturn, but the foundation of economic recovery is not stable, not solid and not balanced and there are still many uncertain factors in China and around the world," the communiqué said.

It said the country would continue with its proactive fiscal policy and appropriately accommodative monetary policy.

"Macroeconomic policies will remain stable, and mechanisms will be upgraded to cope with the global financial crisis," it said.

More efforts would be put into restructuring, innovation, reducing energy consumption and environmental protection, it said.

The Party would also exert more efforts to plan for rural-urban development, balance development in different regions, deepen reforms and opening up and improve people's livelihoods, the communiqué said.

It urged greater efforts to maintain social stability and ward off various risks to strive for the fulfillment of economic and social targets this year.

Ethnic unity

In the communiqué, the Party pledged to "effectively prevent and resolutely crack down on ethnicity-related separatist activities."

It was of great significance to manage ethnic work and strengthen and develop a socialist relationship between ethnic groups that features equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony, the communiqué said.

In the communiqué, the CPC said it would carry on the existing ethnic policies and the system of regional ethnic autonomy to promote economic and social development in ethnic areas.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)