(TibetanReview.net, Jun19’26) – China’s ruling Communist Party has coined a new phrase to make Xi Jinping the country’s ideological Czar on Party Building, stressing governing the party with discipline and unified leadership, under him of course. In this connection, the Central Leading Group for Party Building of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued a notice on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, reported China’ s sate news agency Xinhua Jun 18. The aim is, of course, to strengthen the party’s grip on power in a changing world.
China already has Xi Jinping thoughts in other areas such as the economy, military, diplomacy (Xiplomacy), and culture under the overarching rubric of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
The report cited the notice as saying that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core had set forth a series of new ideas, thoughts and strategies on the Party’s self-governance and on efforts to strengthen the Party, forming Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building.
The notice was cited as calling the Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, providing the fundamental guidance and action guide for advancing Party building in the new era.
The notice required Party committees and leading Party members’ groups at all levels to organize study and training programs and turn the outcomes of such programs into concrete actions to strengthen the Party.
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Earlier, at a national conference on party building on Jun 15, the concept of “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” was hailed as “a milestone in the history of Marxist theory on party building and in the history of Chinese Communist Party building”, reported scmp.com Jun 16, citing a report from the state broadcaster CCTV.
The report said the new phrase was officially coined at a meeting chaired by Cai Qi, the party’s ideology chief and the fifth-ranking member of the party’s top decision-making body, the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. The meeting was also stated to have been attended by officials in charge of discipline, personnel and other key matters.
The CCTV report was cited as saying the concept developed by Xi represented an answer to major questions, including how to build a “Marxist party with long-term governance”, adding that it would serve “as the fundamental guideline for strengthening party building in the new era”.
The CCTV report was further cited as saying the “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” put forth “14 insists”, which included insistence on “a centralised, unified leadership of the party Central Committee”, insistence on “full and rigorous party self-governance” and insistence on an organisational system that is cohesive across different levels.
Fighting corruption is also stated to be a major focus. The doctrine demands that coordinated efforts be made to ensure “officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to commit corruption”.
The report noted that the latest addition to the party’s theoretical canon has been introduced around a year before the next party congress, which is expected to be held in autumn 2027. It is expected that more than two-thirds of the party’s Central Committee will be replaced due to customary age limits. Major reshuffles of the Politburo and its Standing Committee are also predicted.
“Launched right ahead of the party’s 105th founding anniversary [on Jul 1], it (the Xi Jinping doctrine) is set to be the guiding principle of China’s ruling party for decades to come by detailing the key objectives covering all the major aspects of party building, including theory, discipline, organisation, cadres’ quality and training,” Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, has said.
The report noted that Beijing had announced Xi’s contributions to the party’s doctrine in multiple areas, including the economy, military, diplomacy, and culture. In 2017, Xi’s thought on the military was written into the 19th National Party Congress report, insisting on the party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces, as well as “greater stress on combat readiness, innovation-driven development and military-civilian integration”.
Also, in 2018, at a conference on foreign affairs, “Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy” was stated to have been established as a guiding doctrine. It stressed upholding party leadership over external affairs, promoting “building a community with a shared future for mankind” and pursuing peaceful development, based on mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation.