CPC Central Committee Convenes Key Plenary
The Communist Party of China Central Committee kick-started an unprecedented plenary session on Monday, with a full slate of undertakings it will present to China's legislature in early March.
The third plenary session of (CPC) Central Committee started on Monday in Beijing, in accordance with a decision made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Saturday.
The third plenary session is normally held in the autumn, but is being held now because the session will touch on a series of significant reform issues, and the Party needs to present its suggestions ahead of the National People's Congress (NPC)-the country's highest legislative body-before its annual session begins on March 5, observers said.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Saturday met to discuss structural reform plans for Party and State institutions and the country's economic and social development, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Participants also discussed the work report of the Political Bureau.
"The timing of the third plenary session shows that the CPC Central Committee hopes to produce a set of comprehensive proposals as soon as possible so that the NPC can vote on it, and the proposals will be turned into real action," Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times on Monday.
A structural reform plan for Party and State institutions is the main theme of the third plenary session which normally touches on reform issues, however, the breadth and depth of this year's plan have no comparison to past sessions, said Zhi Zhenfeng, a legal expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"Previously, the institutional reform normally touched State institutions or the administrative system, but this time it will touch the whole system including both the Party and State organs. It will touch on some crucial issues, such as the relationship between the Party and the State," Zhi noted.
Planning ahead
At the Saturday meeting, the Political Bureau discussed a list of proposed candidates for State leadership positions that will be recommended to the NPC and a proposed candidate list for the leadership of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference () National Committee. The CPPCC meets concurrently with the NPC and together their annual deliberations are called the two sessions. The list of leadership candidates will be discussed at this year's CPPCC National Committee meeting and the lists will be further deliberated at the CPC Central Committee, Xinhua reported.
"Therefore, the two sessions this year are also very special, because they are the first sessions of a new five-year term, and this means that the two sessions in March will discuss and decide significant issues regarding the reform and development of the country over the next five years," Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, told the Global Times on Monday.
Meet the Requirements
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to revise the draft of the structural reform plan for Party and State institutions and then submit it to the third plenary session for review.
The CPC leaders agreed that the Party and State institutions form an important part of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and should be reformed to strengthen , improve State governance and make the system efficient, Xinhua reported.
While acknowledging its contributions, the leaders said the current structure of Party and State institutions was not good enough to meet the requirements for various tasks in the "new era."
They said the Party should resolve to tackle institutional obstacles to give full play to the advantages of China's socialist system. Details of the plan were not disclosed, Xinhua reported.
(Source: Global Times)
