Yang Xiaodu:
Good morning. It's my pleasure to give you the following briefing.
We all witnessed the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China yesterday. At the Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered on behalf of the 18th Party Central Committee a report entitled "Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."
The report is impressive and encouraging. It won warm applause and full support from all Party members and the Chinese people. Strengthening Party leadership, advancing the great project of Party building, and exercising strict Party self-governance in every respect are important elements highlighted in the report.
Now I would like to take this opportunity to brief you on the achievements of the Party in exercising strict self-governance in every respect since the 18th National Congress and the major principles concerning this endeavor set forth in the report to the 19th National Congress. My briefing is formed of two main parts.
1. Notable progress has been made in exercising full and strict Party self-governance, and the Party has grown stronger through revolutionary tempering.
As the Chinese saying goes, it takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. Since the 18th National Congress, to strengthen the Party's ability to fulfill its historic mission, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has made exercising all-round strict Party self-governance a strategy of crucial significance. With the determination to "offend several thousand rather than disappoint the 1.3 billion Chinese people," the Central Committee has attached unprecedented importance to improving Party conduct, building integrity, and combating corruption. It has made resolute efforts to improve Party conduct, tighten discipline, fight corruption, and punish wrongdoing, and seen historic changes in Party building.
First, we have combined ideological work and institution building, and seen a marked improvement in the political atmosphere within the Party.
We have made it clear that Party leadership is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have launched activities to see Party members develop a good understanding of and act on the Party's mass line, initiated a campaign for the observance of the Three Stricts and Three Earnests (i.e. to be strict with oneself in practicing self-cultivation, using power, and exercising self-discipline; and to be earnest in one's thinking, work, and behavior) and carried out activities that require all Party members to have a solid understanding of the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's major addresses and to meet Party standards. We have worked to strengthen Party members' consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment, and enhanced their confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
We have made it a task of fundamental importance to ensure a disciplined political life within the Party. We have worked to see that the principal responsibility for governance over the Party and the oversight responsibility are fulfilled at every level, and tightened political discipline and rules, thus markedly improving the intraparty political atmosphere and the political ecosystem of the Party.
Second, we have persevered in implementing the eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, with a view to using fine Party conduct to improve social behavior.
The 18th Party Central Committee has pursued the endeavor by first addressing the misconduct most resented by the people, improving Party conduct, and ensuring implementation of the eight-point decision. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee has led by example, and the whole Party has followed with firm resolve and perseverance. Many unhealthy trends have been reversed. This is an accomplishment previously regarded by many as a mission impossible. "The eight-point decision is changing China." Conduct improvement bears testimony to the Party's progress in capacity building. Previously, people claimed that the public expenses of the banquets amounted to some 200 billion yuan, and they thought that this trend cannot be stopped. Yet, after the introduction of the "eight-point decision," the problem has been fundamentally solved.
The Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and China Central Television jointly produced a four-episode documentary series on rectifying work related to practices. It aroused a huge public interest, and attracted an on air audience of 350 million with 300 million more viewers online.
Third, we have strengthened intraparty oversight, and ensured within this term of office full coverage of disciplinary inspection, which cuts like a blade through corruption and misconduct.
We conducted 12 rounds of central discipline inspections and inspected a total of 277 Party organizations; took a "second look" at 16 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government that had been inspected earlier; and carried out flexible inspections over 4 departments at the central level. For the first time, a full coverage of disciplinary inspections was realized within one term of office. In carrying out inspections, we have coordinated the efforts of the entire Party throughout the country and addressed both the symptoms and root causes of corruption. The Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and CCTV also produced a four-episode documentary series covering the inspections, attracting a total audience of 550 million on air and 530 million online. This shows the people's full trust in and support to disciplinary inspection. It gives the general public a channel to report misbehaving officials and expose corruption cases. It also creates an opportunity for the Party and the general public to root out corruption together.
We have furthered the reform of the disciplinary inspection system, and improved procedures and institutions to ensure that a discipline inspection commission is under the leadership of both the Party committee at the same level and the discipline inspection commission at the next level up.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection dispatched 47 disciplinary inspection teams, stationed at the Party organizations of all the 139 departments subject to this form of oversight.
We have continued the reform of the national supervision system, improved the self-oversight systems of the Party and the state, and completed relevant pilot reforms in Beijing, Shanxi, and Zhejiang.
General Secretary Xi Jinping said in the report yesterday that the work should be carried out nationwide. This is our task in the next step ahead.
Fourth, we have taken comprehensive steps to tighten Party discipline and exercise stricter supervision and governance over the Party.
We have ensured that Party discipline requires more of Party members than the law codes, and a disciplinary action is taken before a legal action is needed. By conducting four forms of oversight over discipline compliance, we are able to identify problems early and correct them while they are nascent, and build layers of defense to prevent them from growing serious.
Our aim is to prevent people from making the very first mistake, because if one makes a minor mistake and no one warns him immediately as to its bad consequences, that person will not feel anxious about making bigger mistakes - and may eventually commit crimes.
We have taken a series of measures to stop people from making small mistakes in the very first place. As I said, we have been committed to ensuring that Party discipline requires Party members to go further and beyond what the law states, and a disciplinary action is taken before a legal action is needed. Why? That's because Party members are the vanguard of the times and the progressives of the nation. They must observe stricter discipline codes. They chose to join the Party, so they must receive stricter discipline codes than common citizens.
Over the past five years, discipline inspection commissions and supervision agencies across the country dealt with 2.674 million leads on discipline violations, filed 1.545 million cases, punished 1.537 million Party members, and transferred 58,000 suspects to judicial bodies. This demonstrates our commitment to the principles that discipline must be strictly enforced and, that all discipline violators must be punished, and our adherence to the practice of learning from mistakes to prevent recurrence and treating the illness to save the patient. We are serious about this. Action will definitely be taken if one dares to step across the line.
Fifth, by both "taking out tigers" and "swatting flies," we have built and consolidated an overwhelming momentum in the fight against corruption.
We have made determined efforts to eradicate interest groups that are involved in both political and economic corruption, and investigated and prosecuted serious discipline and law violations committed by Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Sun Zhengcai, Ling Jihua and others.
Cases were filed to investigate 440 Party members in leadership positions at and above the provincial and army commander level and other leading Party officials under Party Central Committee management. Among them, 43 were members or alternate members of the 18th Central Committee, and 9 were members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. More than 8,900 officials at the director-general level and 63,000 at the county and director level have also been investigated. Meanwhile, we are resolute in addressing corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps, disciplining a total of 278,000 Party members and officials working at the primary level.
Progress has also been made in hunting corrupt elements who have fled overseas and in recovering their ill-gotten assets. A total of 3,453 fugitives have been brought back, including 48 of the 100 on Interpol's red notice list.
We also produced an eight-episode documentary on the fight against corruption, attracting an on air audience of over 600 million and 650 million viewers online. The achievements we made were recognized by both the Party and the general public, who have given us strong support and great help in our work. In my opinion, in the fight against corruption, the utmost power of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core comes from all Party members and the common Chinese people. With them behind us, we are fully confident to win the battle.
Sixth, we have upheld rule-based Party self-governance by improving Party regulations and tightening the cage of institutions.
Integrating the work of comprehensively deepening reform with institutional innovation, acting in strict accordance with the Party Constitution, and drawing on the experience gained through exploration and practice, the Party Central Committee amended or enacted over 90 Party regulations, bringing them in line with state laws. This has enabled rule-based self-governance of the Party and law-based governance of the country to complement and reinforce each other. As a result, the fight against corruption is based more on institutions, rules and laws.
Over the past five years, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and with the concerted efforts of the whole Party and the people, the political life within the Party has taken on a new look, and the Party's political ecosystem has markedly improved. The Party's ability to innovate, power to unite, and energy to fight have been significantly strengthened; Party unity and solidarity have been reinforced; and the Party's engagement with the people has been greatly improved.
The Party has made major breakthroughs in exploring an effective path to self-purification in the context of long-term governance, and has grown stronger, purer and more advanced through revolutionary tempering. It now radiates with great vitality, providing strong political underpinning for realizing the two centenary goals and revitalizing the Chinese nation.
2．We must put into practice the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress and continue to exercise full and strict Party self-governance.
For the Party to unite the people and lead them in carrying out our great struggle, advancing our great cause, and realizing our great dream, we must unwaveringly uphold and improve Party leadership, advance the great new project of Party building, and make the Party still stronger.
The report to the 19th National Congress has clearly set out the overall requirements, plan, and objective as well as key tasks for Party building in the new era. We must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the basic policy, gain a good understanding of them through earnest study, fully apply them in practice, and earnestly perform our duties entrusted by the Party Constitution. We will focus on the following areas.
First, we will put political building of the Party first, resolutely uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee, ensure earnest intraparty discipline and rules, and create an atmosphere in which discipline and rules are strictly observed. With this we will bring fundamental improvement in our political ecosystem.
Second, we will launch a campaign on the theme of "staying true to our founding mission" with the emphasis on studying and applying the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will urge our Party members and officials to study and put into practice the Thought, keep firmly in mind the Party's ideals, convictions, and purpose, and forever preserve the political character of Communists while steadfastly serving the people.
Third, we will work ceaselessly to improve Party conduct and enforce discipline. We will continue to implement the eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct, fully strengthen the Party's disciplinary building, make good use of the four forms of oversight over discipline compliance, and bolster the foundation of the Party's governance through fine conduct and strict discipline.
Fourth, we will continue to see that in fighting corruption, there are no no-go zones, no ground left unturned, and no tolerance shown. We will maintain a tough stance and a long-term deterrence, and resolutely punish corruption. We will intensify efforts to address corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps, and continue to pursue corrupt elements who have fled overseas and recover their ill-gotten assets. We will address both the symptoms and root causes of corruption. We will strengthen deterrence so officials dare not be corrupt, strengthen the cage of institutions so they are unable to be corrupt, and strengthen their vigilance so that they have no desire to commit corruption. With this we will secure a crushing victory in the fight against corruption. Now that the anti-corruption campaign has been built into a crushing tide, we will do all we can to achieve a sweeping victory in the fight against corruption.
Fifth, we will strengthen intraparty oversight, develop sound Party and state oversight systems, and deepen reform of the national supervision system in line with the Central Committee's plan. We will give play to the role of disciplinary inspection as a blade that cuts through corruption and misconduct, and the role of oversight by stationed inspectors as a "probe" against corruption and misconduct. This will make the Party better able to purify, improve, and reform itself.
Yang Xiaodu:
With this I conclude my briefing. Thank you.
Guo Weimin:
Thank you, Mr. Yang. Now, let's give the floor to our media friends. We kindly remind you to identify the media outlet you represent before raising questions.