BEIJING, Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from en.qstheory.cn:
As one of China’s basic political systems, the system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation is a new type of political party system that has grown out of Chinese soil. Over our country’s glorious 75-year journey, it has played an irreplaceable role in the modernization of our system and capacity for governance.
Now that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, how can we better uphold, develop, and improve the system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation? How should non-CPC parties position and present themselves in the new era in order to make greater contributions and play a bigger role? This is the defining question to be answered regarding multiparty cooperation in the current era.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to multiparty cooperation. With a view to developing socialist democracy, modernizing China’s governance system and capacity, and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, it has made a series of major decisions and plans on multiparty cooperation for the new era, thereby spurring fresh progress in the development of China’s new type of political party system. The CPC has strengthened overall leadership over multiparty cooperation, advancing the development of relevant institutions and holding central conferences on the work of the united front and the CPPCC. It has issued a series of important guidelines on enhancing socialist consultative democracy, consultative democracy in the CPPCC, consultation with non-CPC political parties, the development of political parties participating in national governance under socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the work of the CPPCC in the new era. These efforts have helped further institutionalize and standardize multiparty cooperation, creating a Constitution-based framework that takes relevant CPC regulations and documents as the mainstay and is supplemented by relevant policies. To propel the development of socialist consultative democracy, the CPC has placed inter-party consultation at the forefront of its seven consultation channels. This form of consultation is underpinned by clear content, standard procedures, sound institutions, and strong guarantees, all of which have helped establish it as a regular feature of national political life.
Since 2012, President Xi Jinping has, in a series of statements, presented new ideas, new thinking, and new conclusions on how to uphold, develop, and improve China’s new type of political party system. For example, President Xi has made it clear that the system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation is one of China’s basic political systems and is the result of integrating Marxist political party theory with China’s realities. He has declared that leadership by the CPC is the defining feature of China’s new type of political party system and has emphasized that upholding its leadership and working together with the CPC is the fundamental political basis for multiparty cooperation. He has pointed out that this political system reflects the essence of socialist democracy, which is to ensure that the people run the country. He has stressed the need to develop whole-process people’s democracy and forge great unity and solidarity in order to pool as much strength as possible for collective endeavors. He has stated that socialism with Chinese characteristics provides the common ideological and political foundation for this political system in the new era and has emphasized the importance of maintaining the correct political direction and strengthening the ideological and political foundation underpinning the leadership by the CPC. He has defined non-CPC political parties as participating parties and prominent figures without party affiliation as participating forces in national governance under Chinese socialism and has called on them to serve as effective advisers, helpers, and partners to the CPC. He has underscored that in this new era of Chinese socialism, multiparty cooperation should take on a new look, ideological consensus should reach new heights, fresh accomplishments should be realized in the performance of duties, and a new outlook should prevail among all participating parties. He has highlighted the CPPCC’s role as an important political and organizational platform for this political system and stressed the need to create conditions for non-CPC political parties and prominent figures without party affiliation to better play their role in the CPPCC. He has declared that the key to better demonstrating this political system’s effectiveness lies in leveraging the positive role of non-CPC political parties and prominent figures without party affiliation and has emphasized the importance of inter-party consultation as a form of democracy and institutional channel. He has pointed out that this political system serves as an important institutional guarantee for China’s political stability and has stressed the need to regard the efforts to understand, uphold, and improve the system in this overarching strategic light. Finally, he has stated that this political system stands as a major contribution to political advancement of humanity. On this basis, he has stressed the need to speed up the development of relevant theoretical and discourse systems, so as to contribute to the political advancement of humanity with Chinese insights.
