CPC to sharpen intra-Party management

BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday published twodocuments to regulate the formation of Party rules.

The two regulations are considered an important move to improve the CPC's internalmanagement and sharpen intra-Party supervision.

One regulation is about which party organs are authorized to draft, approve, publish, amendand abolish party regulations and what procedures they should follow.

The other one details how party regulations should be put on records, reviewed, amended orabolished.

The two regulations are the first formal documents to regulate the formation of CPC rules sincethe founding of the CPC in 1921. They will affect more than 82 million members and four millionCPC organs.

The newly published regulations are based on a temporary regulation on the formation of partyrules issued in 1990.

Prof. Jiang Ming'an, with the Law School of Peking University, told Xinhua that the new CPCleadership expected to tighten up internal management through standardizing the formation ofparty rules and preventing randomness in this aspect.

"Stable and standard management of the CPC, the ruling party, is an important aspect of therule of law in China," Jiang said.

Currently, the CPC operates under a comprehensive set of regulations but some were issuedwithout proper research and some old rules have not been updated to keep up with changes inreality.

In the two regulations, the CPC has aimed to improve transparency in the drafting of partyrules.

Now, before a party regulation is issued, the CPC should solicit opinions from party members,experts and citizens through publishing the draft online or holding consultation meetings.

The new regulations also require the CPC to publish all of its regulations except in a few specialcases.

Prof. Zhen Xiaoying, with the Central Socialist Academy, said more transparency will preventthe CPC from issuing ineffective or empty rules and help reduce bureaucracy.

The new rules also regulate that the CPC should have both annual and five-year plans fordrafting and amending party rules.

This is the first time in CPC history that the Party will have a five-year plan on the formation ofparty rules, Zhen said.

A long-term plan will help the Party to realize the continuity of its rules and improve draftingwork, she said.

Since last June, the CPC has gone through all its regulatory documents that were issued afterthe founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, in a bid to decide which should remainand which should be abolished. The process represents a first in the organization's history.

The new leadership has promised to "lock the power in the cage" so, first of all, the cage of thelaws and party regulations should be strong enough, said Prof. Ye Duchu, with the PartySchool of the CPC Central Committee.

Building the framework of rules will affect generations and help safeguard the long-term rule ofCPC in China, Ye said.