Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and other leaders attend the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, which concluded in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded its fourth plenary session in Beijing on Thursday with the release of a communique.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made an important speech at the session presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The plenary session heard and discussed a work report delivered by Xi, who was entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, according to the communique.

The session reviewed and adopted the CPC Central Committee's decision on some major issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance. Xi explained the draft document to the plenary session.

"The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a scientific system developed by the Party and the people through their long-term practices and explorations," the communique read.

All the work and activities of China's national governance are carried out in accordance with the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, said the document, noting that the country's system and capacity for governance are a crystallization of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its enforcement capability.

The session fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the Third Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, acknowledging its endeavors that led to major achievements in various causes of the Party and the country despite complicated situations marked by increasing risks and challenges at home and abroad.

The communique said, as proven by practice, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and China's system for governance are systems of strong vitality and huge strength.

These systems are able to push for the continuous progress of the country with nearly 1.4 billion people and ensure the realization of the two centenary goals toward the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which has a civilization of more than 5,000 years, it added.

STRENGTH 

The communique said China's state and governance systems enjoy notable strengths in the following aspects:

-- Upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC, following the CPC's scientific theories, maintaining political stability and ensuring that the country keeps advancing in the direction of socialism;

-- Seeing that the people run the country, promoting the people's democracy, maintaining close ties with the people and relying on them to push forward the country's development;

-- Ensuring law-based governance in all fields, building a country of socialist rule of law, and guaranteeing social fairness and justice and the people's rights;

-- Ensuring the whole country works together and stimulating the enthusiasm of all aspects to mobilize resources for major undertakings;

-- Upholding equality between all ethnic groups, creating a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation to work jointly for common prosperity and development;

-- Upholding the dominant role of the public sector and common development of economic entities under diverse forms of ownership, the distribution system whereby distribution according to labor is dominant and a variety of other modes of distribution exist alongside it, the synergy between the socialist system and the market economy, and continuously unlocking and developing the productive forces;

-- Upholding common ideals and convictions, values, and moral standards, promoting China's fine traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, as well as inspiring the people to embrace shared ideologies and mindsets;

-- Adhering to the vision of making development people-centered, and continuously guaranteeing and improving people's livelihoods and improving people's wellbeing to achieve common prosperity for everyone;

-- Continuing reform and innovation, moving with the times, and promoting self-improvement and development to build a society full of vitality;

-- Selecting officials based on integrity and ability and on the basis of merit regardless of background to cultivate more talented individuals;

-- Keeping the armed forces under the Party's command and ensuring that the people's armed forces are completely loyal to the Party and the people so as to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests;

-- Upholding the principle of "one country, two systems," maintaining lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, and promoting the peaceful reunification of China;

-- Adhering to the unity of independence and self-reliance and opening up to the rest of the world, taking an active part in global governance, and continuing to make contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

"All these notable strengths are the fundamental basis for fostering stronger confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics," the communique said.

TARGETS AND TASKS 

The session stressed upholding and improving the fundamental, basic and important institutions that underpin the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. A set of institutions that are well conceived, fully built, procedure based and efficiently functioning must be built to better transform institutional strength into effective governance, it added.

The session vowed to see that institutions in all fields are notably improved when the CPC marks its centenary before the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance is basically achieved by 2035 and realized in full as the People's Republic of China celebrates its own centenary.

The session underscored: 

-- Upholding and improving the system of institutions for Party leadership to improve its capacity to practice scientific, democratic and law-based governance;

-- Upholding and improving the system of institutions through which the people run the country and developing socialist democracy;

-- Upholding and improving the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and improving the Party's capacity for law-based governance and law-based exercising of state power;

-- Upholding and improving the government administration system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. A law-based government administration with well-defined functions and duties shall be built, it added;

-- Upholding and improving China's basic socialist economic system and promoting the high-quality development of the economy;

-- Upholding and improving the system to make advanced socialist culture prosperous and developed to consolidate the common ideological foundation upon which all people are united and work together;

-- Upholding and improving the livelihood system for protecting both urban and rural residents and working to meet people's ever-increasing needs for a better life;

-- Upholding and improving the social governance system based on collaboration, participation and common interests, as well as maintaining social stability and defending national security;

-- Upholding and improving the system for developing an ecological civilization and promoting the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature;

-- Upholding and improving the Party's absolute leadership over the armed forces and ensuring that they will faithfully fulfill their missions in the new era;

-- Upholding and improving the system of "one country, two systems" and advancing the process toward the peaceful reunification of China;

-- Upholding and improving the independent foreign policy of peace and working to build a community with a shared future for humanity;

-- Upholding and improving the Party and state oversight systems and strengthening checks on and oversight over the exercise of power.

The session was attended by 202 members of the CPC Central Committee and 169 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee.

Also present were members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), senior officials of relevant departments, a number of delegates to the 19th CPC National Congress who work at the grass-roots level as well as experts and scholars.

The plenary session decided to admit two alternate members of the CPC Central Committee -- Ma Zhengwu and Ma Weiming -- into the Central Committee as full members.

The session also reviewed and adopted a CCDI investigation report on the severe violations of Party discipline and the law by Liu Shiyu, confirming the punishment previously decided by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that he would be placed on probation within the Party for two years.