The comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is transitioning from a stage-based campaign to an institutionalized and theorized phase. The latest 'Notice on Studying and Implementing Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building' issued by the Central Party Building Work Leading Group has, for the first time, elevated the experience of Party governance since the 18th National Congress into a complete theoretical system. The signal is clear: Party building is no longer just an emergency measure for 'treating symptoms' but has entered the deep logic of 'treating root causes.'
The Three Dimensions of the Theoretical Framework
The notice constructs the skeleton of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building from three dimensions: scientific connotation, theoretical character, and practical foundation. In the scientific connotation section, 14 'deep understandings' cover the entire chain from Party leadership and comprehensive strict governance to institutional governance. Among them, 'adhering to institutional governance and rule-based governance of the Party' is explicitly positioned as a 'long-term and fundamental strategy.' This positioning raises the priority of institutional construction to an unprecedented level, implying that the improvement of the intra-Party legal system will become the core driving force of Party building.
The theoretical character section focuses on the spiritual core: firm ideals and convictions, a high degree of historical initiative, a clear problem orientation, a strong sense of mission and responsibility, profound feelings for the people, and scientific thinking methods. These six 'implications' essentially answer the dual support of Party building thought in terms of value theory and methodology. For Party organizations at all levels, this means that learning cannot stop at the textual level but must be internalized as the logic of decision-making and action.
The four 'deep understandings' in the practical foundation section are particularly noteworthy: it explicitly positions Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building as a summary of the practical experience of comprehensive and strict governance in the new era, an inheritance and development of Marxist Party building theory, a transformation of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and a summation of the lessons from the international communist movement. This expression implies a judgment: Party building theory is not created out of thin air but is an extraction of two-way experience from history and reality.
The Shift from 'Event-Driven' to 'Institution-Driven'
Industry observers note that this notice deliberately downplays a 'campaign-style' tone, emphasizing 'institutional governance' and 'rule-based governance.' This reflects a fundamental shift in Party building strategy: the 'event-driven' model, which relied on special actions or typical cases, is being replaced by an 'institution-driven' model based on intra-Party regulations, organizational procedures, and responsibility lists.
At the implementation level, the notice requires Party committees (Party groups) at all levels to regard studying and implementing it as an 'important political task' and specifically emphasizes 'resolutely preventing formalism.' This warning is not empty—some localities previously exhibited a tendency of 'using meetings to implement meetings, using documents to implement documents' in Party building studies. The implementation of the new notice means that assessment indicators may shift from 'how many times studied' to 'how much practical transformation has been achieved.'
Deep Impact on the Organizational System
The expression 'adhering to building an organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and has strong execution' in the notice actually sets standards for grassroots organizational construction. In the future, the execution capability of the organizational system will become a core indicator for evaluating Party building effectiveness. For different systems such as state-owned enterprises, universities, and government agencies, this means establishing more quantitative assessment mechanisms rather than relying solely on qualitative evaluations.
'Adhering to building a high-quality cadre team capable of undertaking the great task of national rejuvenation' directly points to the standards for selecting and appointing cadres. Under the framework of 'institutional governance,' cadre selection will place greater emphasis on the combination of political quality and professional ability. Promotion paths relying solely on seniority or connections will face stricter institutional constraints.