Communiqué of the Seventh Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened its seventh plenary session in Beijing from October 9 to 12, 2022.

A total of 199 members and 159 alternate members of the CPC Central Committee attended the session. Members of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and leading officials of other relevant departments were present in a non-voting capacity.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee presided over the session. General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping delivered an important speech.

It was decided at the session that the Party will convene its 20th National Congress in Beijing on October 16, 2022.

At the session, the Central Committee heard and discussed the report on the work of the Political Bureau, presented by Xi Jinping, who was entrusted by the Political Bureau. It also discussed and adopted a report by the 19th CPC Central Committee to be delivered at the 20th CPC National Congress, as well as a work report of the 19th CPC CCDI to the congress, and a draft amendment to the Party Constitution. It was decided at the session that the three documents will be submitted to the 20th CPC National Congress for examination and deliberation. Xi Jinping delivered explanatory remarks on the draft report of the 19th CPC Central Committee to the 20th CPC National Congress, and Wang Huning made explanatory remarks on the draft amendment to the Party Constitution.

At the session, full recognition was given to the work of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee since this Central Committee’s Sixth Plenary Session. It was unanimously agreed that over the past year, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, facing a complicated and grave international situation and the challenging and arduous tasks of reform, development and ensuring stability at home, has been fully implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, uniting and leading the entire Party, the military, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups in achieving new and significant progress in the cause of the Party and the country on all fronts. The great founding spirit of the Party has been championed, the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability has been adhered to, and efforts have been made to implement the requirements of containing COVID-19 while stabilizing the economy and keeping development secure. The Party has coordinated the COVID-19 response with economic and social development, striking a balance between development and security, and maintaining a no let-up approach in routine COVID-19 prevention and control. It has been advancing high-quality development, deepening reform and opening up, developing whole-process people’s democracy and improving its work in communication, ideology and culture fields. Also, it has given a special stress on ensuring and improving people’s well-being, and made efforts in promoting ecological conservation and environmental protection, accelerating steps in modernizing national defense and the armed forces, vigorously advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and exercising full and rigorous self-governance. China has successfully hosted the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and grand celebrations were held to mark the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. The country has been fighting resolutely in major struggles against separatism and foreign interference and has properly responded to the risks and challenges brought about by the Ukraine crisis. All these efforts have helped maintain a stable and healthy economic environment, a secure and peaceful society and a political ecology of integrity and honesty, pushing the cause of the Party and the country to reap new and major achievements, and thus securing a sound environment for the Party’s 20th National Congress.

The work of the past five years since the 19th CPC National Congress was summarized at the plenary session, and it was held that the five years was an unusual and extraordinary period. In the five years, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has held high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, thoroughly implemented the guidelines of the 19th CPC National Congress and the plenums of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and followed the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The CPC Central Committee has united and led the whole Party, the military and Chinese people of all ethnic groups in concerted efforts to carry out our great struggle, develop our great project, advance our great cause, and realize our great dream. In the past five years, we have advanced the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan to promote coordinated economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological advancement, and implemented the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy to boost comprehensive moves to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform, advance law-based governance, and strengthen Party self-governance. We have responded to COVID-19 and pursued economic and social development in a well-coordinated way, ensured both development and security, upheld the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and made every effort to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We have applied the new development philosophy in full, in the right way, and in all fields of endeavor. We have promoted high-quality development, fostered a new development pattern, and taken swift yet steady steps in advancing reforms. We have promoted whole-process people’s democracy, comprehensively advanced law-based governance, developed advanced socialist culture, and worked to ensure and improve public well-being. We have pooled our efforts in eradicating absolute poverty and spurred ecological conservation. We have defended national security, taken steps to forestall and defuse major risks, maintained overall social stability, advanced the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, carried out major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics on all fronts, and advanced the great new project of Party building into full swing. We have declared victory in the critical battle against poverty as envisaged, achieved the historic task and the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embarked on a new journey toward the second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country in all respects. We celebrated the centenary of the founding of the CPC and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and adopted the Party’s third resolution on historical issues. We also launched campaigns to study the history of the CPC and called for all Party members to digest and practice the great founding spirit of the Party. Putting the people and their lives first, we organized the people’s all-out war against the COVID-19 pandemic and protected the people’s lives and health to the greatest possible extent. In line with the Constitution and the basic laws, we effectively exercised the central government’s overall jurisdiction over the special administrative regions and implemented the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”. From disorder to good social order, a significant shift had taken place in Hong Kong. Remaining committed to the “one-China” principle and the 1992 Consensus, we demonstrated our resolve and ability to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity and fight against any separatist schemes or activities for “Taiwan independence”. Giving top priority to national interests and domestic politics, we managed to maintain strategic resolve and carried forward the fighting spirit. Our national dignity and core interests were safeguarded through struggles, and the initiative of development and security was firmly grasped in our hands. Over the past five years, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core wisely sized up the situation and spearheaded innovation on the basis of what has worked. Being brave and adept in carrying out struggle, it united and led the whole Party, the military and people of all ethnic groups in effectively responding to complicated and grave international situation as well as serious risks and challenges that kept emerging. With a high morale, we have constantly advanced the socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, tackled many problems that were long on the agenda but remained unsolved, accomplished big and great things of long-term significance, and made major achievements in the cause of the Party and the nation that captured world attention.                                  

It was stressed at the plenary session that the major achievements scored in the cause of the Party and the country since the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017 were achieved under the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and through the concerted efforts of the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The Party has set Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position in the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, set Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guiding ideology. This reflects the common will of all Party members, the military and people of all ethnic groups. It has a decisive bearing on the development of the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and the historic course of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. All Party members must have a keen understanding of the significance of the Two Sets, enhance the Four Consciousnesses, reinforce the Four-Sphere Confidence, and ensure the Two Upholds, and rally even more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, comprehensively implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era，and strive to build a modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

At the session, the Central Committee reviewed the work of the Party’s 19th CCDI. It was unanimously agreed that, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at its core, commissions for discipline inspection at all levels faithfully fulfilled their duties as stipulated in the Party Constitution, resolutely implemented Party’s strategy for self-reform and the guideline for governing the Party in a strict and comprehensive manner, and carried out the Eight-Point Decision on Improving Party and Government Conduct to strengthen political disciplines and rules. They firmly safeguarded the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership, strengthened political supervision and deepened political inspection, so as to ensure the political duties for strengthening Party self-governance are fully performed. They also rectified misconducts and cracked down on corruption that occurred on the people’s doorsteps, and made coordinated efforts to ensure officials do not dare, are not able, and have no desire to commit acts of corruption. As a result, the anti-corruption campaign has secured an overwhelming victory and been consolidated comprehensively. They made efforts to improve the supervision institution of the Party and the state, and deepen reforms on discipline inspection and supervision system so as to make them more procedure-based, law-based and standardized. They made new progress in building a faithful, clean and responsible team for discipline inspection and supervision, and in promoting high-quality discipline inspection and supervision work.

In line with the Party Constitution, the session has decided to appoint alternate members Ma Guoqiang, Wang Ning, and Wang Weizhong as members of the Central Committee.

The plenary deliberated and adopted the report of the CPC CCDI on examination about the violations of the Party discipline and law by Fu Zhenghua, Shen Deyong, Li Jia, and Zhang Jinghua, and affirmed the decisions of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to expel Fu Zhenghua, Shen Deyong and Zhang Jinghua from the Party and dismiss Li Jia from his post within the Party.

The CPC Central Committee analyzed the current situation and the Party’s tasks ahead, discussed several important issues concerning upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and building a modern socialist country in all respects in the new era, making ample preparations for the 20th CPC National Congress.