The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee hosted a symposium here Saturday to solicit advice and suggestions from outside the Party on its document concerning strengthening and improving Party building.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, briefed the participants on how the document of the the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee was weighed and finally formed. He asked them to freely voice their opinions on revising the document.

Chairmen of the central committees of eight non-communist parties and personages without party affiliation like Health Minister Chen Zhu offered their suggestions on issues including strengthening the intra-Party democracy, fighting corruption and improving the leadership style.

"The suggestions are valuable and insightful," said Hu. "They are a reflection of the close cooperative relations between the CPC and the non-communist parties."

"We will study them and try to learn from them," he said.

Hu said that being a ruling party in a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the CPC is shouldering an arduous task. The CPC will stick to the principle that the Party exercises self-discipline and is strict with its members. It will strengthen Party building and improve its art of leadership and governance.

Hu stressed that the CPC will work hard to enhance its abilities of resisting corruption, guarding against degeneration and warding off risks.

Members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau Jia Qinglin, Xi Jinping and He Guoqiang also attended the symposium.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, which was concluded Friday, endorsed the decision of the CPC Central Committee on major issues on strengthening and improving Party building under the new circumstances.

A communique issued upon the closing of the four-day plenum vowed to "expand intra-Party democracy to develop people's democracy" and resolutely fight corruption." It also acknowledged that quite a few problems existed inside the Party that ran counter to new circumstances and to the Party's nature.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2009)