'Mass line' campaign shows CPC's determination

The reinforcement of the "mass line" has demonstrated the determination of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to correct any misbehavior that may get in the way of its development.

The "mass line," a guideline introduced by the revolutionary forerunners of the CPC, champions close Party-people relations that helped the Party come to the national power.

The CPC followed the line and grew stronger by aligning with the public during the the Agrarian Revolutionary War (1927-1937), the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) and the War of Liberation (1945-1949).

The line's significance was brought up again decades after its introduction. Top CPC leaders decided in April to launch a year-long "mass line" campaign from the second half of this year to cement Party-people ties.

CPC officials at or above county level are required to reflect on their own practices and correct any misbehavior.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said in June that the campaign will be a "thorough cleanup" of undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance among officials.

The campaign came on the heels of an "eight-point" regulation that the CPC leadership began promoting in December 2012 to ban extravagance and formalism from events attended by officials.

Both the "eight-point" instruction and the "mass line" campaign are the CPC leadership's endeavor to shoot persistent problems such as red tape, corruption and Party-people alienation among officials.

Upon starting the campaign, the CPC leadership has realized that making officials stay close to the people and refine their work style is as important as "locking their power in a cage."