The Communist Party of China (CPC) has spelled out detailed instructions on how its local committees operate in a newly amended regulation, pinning high hopes on their role in strengthening the CPC's governance.
"Whether these committees are competent and fully functional affect the Party's governance capacity, leading status and development of the Party and the country," said a statement accompanying Monday's release of the regulation by the CPC Central Committee.
The regulation stressed the main role for local committees in enforcing the comprehensive and strict management of the Party, urging Party secretaries at various levels to lead Party management within their jurisdictions.
According to the regulation, Party management refers to guidance and supervision over political affairs, officials' ideologies and organizational activities, with a focus on decision-making and the implementation of various policies.
The stipulation is expected to bring the intra-Party code of conduct into local CPC officials' main focus, alongside local economic and social development.
Official figures showed that the country had 3,218 local CPC committees in 2014, including 31 provincial-level ones, 397 at the city level and 2,790 county committees.
While the previous regulation urged local committees to "operate within the realm of laws and Constitution," the amended version added "Party constitution and other intra-Party regulations," which usually contain harsher requirements on Party member behavior.
Additional anti-corruption requirements raised in recent years, such as the banning of bureaucracy, hedonism and other undesirable work styles and the "three stricts and three earnests," have also been written into the amended regulation as part of the chapter on duty and obligations.
According to the regulation, the standing committee of a local CPC committee that exercises the core leadership power in its jurisdictions should consist of 11 to 13 people at the province level and 9 to 11 people at city or county level.
The CPC's local committees date back to 1921 when the CPC was founded and established the "local implementation committee" system. In 1927, the CPC amended its Party constitution and officially renamed the "local implementation committee" system to local committees.
This amendment is the first in 20 years after the release of the regulation in 1996. It was approved last month at a meeting presided over by CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping.
A statement released after that meeting described local CPC committees as the foundation of the CPC's governance and that they are crucial to the sound implementation of decisions and objectives outlined by the central leadership.
