Challenges

A large part of Hu's speech was devoted to clarifying the CPC's policies on boosting progress of the nation, and in this regard, it gave prominence to the reform and opening-up policy, said Lin Shangli, Vice President of the Fudan University based in Shanghai. In keeping with this policy, China will promote economic, social, cultural and political development in an all-round way.

"On the way forward, we must firmly carry out the central task of economic development and stay committed to pursuing scientific development," Hu said.

Moreover, China will continue to promote the development of socialist democracy, facilitate the development and enrichment of socialist culture and improve people's well-being.

Hu's remarks showed the CPC has a comprehensive plan for China's economic and social development. This makes people confident about the country's future, Lin said.

At the same time, the CPC is fully aware of the daunting challenges it faces today, when the nation is undergoing a major social transition and addressing difficult issues, including social tensions, as its reform and opening up deepen.

How the Party copes with difficulties to accomplish development goals is essential to China's future development, Lin said. In this sense, Party building—efforts to develop and improve the CPC itself—is of paramount importance.

The CPC faces challenges in governing the country, in implementing reform and opening up and in developing the market economy, as well as in the external environment, Hu said.

"And the whole Party is confronted with growing danger of lacking in drive, incompetence, divorce from the people, lacking in initiative, and corruption," he said.

In a bid to improve itself, the CPC will emphasize the development of human resources—from leading officials to intellectuals and innovators, which it considers a strategic asset, Lin said. Moreover, it will continue to optimize the institutions through which it exercises state power.

"China, under the leadership of the CPC, is a people's democracy where the people are the masters of the country," Lin said. "Power comes from the people, and the people have entrusted the Party with providing leadership for society. The Party's mission is to serve the people, create happy lives for them and work for the realization of national rejuvenation."

Since the people are a decisive force in China's social and national development, the CPC must put people first by representing and upholding their interests.

The CPC has long pursued a populist approach that underlines close ties with the people. It must adhere to this approach as it serves as the ruling party of the world's most populous nation, Lin said.

The exercise of political power always entails risks for the ruling party, such as corruption, he said. While the Party has put in place an anti-corruption system, other institutions, including the economic system, the social governance system and the system of democracy, are also at stake. But this should not be an excuse to tolerate corruption.

Although it is unrealistic to expect the Party to root out the problem in a short time, Hu's speech reaffirmed the CPC's determination to combat corruption, he said.