Cleanup of CPC rules sharpens internal management

While the Communist Party of China (CPC) relies on party rules to organize its 80 million members, the first overhaul of these rules took place in June. More than 40 percent of CPC rules issued since 1978, when China launched the reform and opening up, have been either abolished or declared invalid in the cleanup campaign, according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee on Wednesday. Among the 300 abolished and nullified rules, many were deemed old fashioned or out of date, with 54 percent inconsistent with the current CPC Constitution and policies or the Chinese Constitution and laws. Many others were incompatible with the reality of today's society. In October, the CPC will start cleaning up the rules issued from 1949 to 1978. This seemingly boring paperwork is actually vital to China's ruling party. In the nearly 64 years of CPC rule since 1949, China has gone through drastic changes, from an isolated poverty-stricken country to the world's second largest economy, deeply engaged in globalization. Obviously old rules will contradict new ones and new rules repudiate old ones. The legal system has taken a new shape in the past three decades so a number of CPC rules have to be abolished or amended to be in line with the rule of law. A chaotic system does not help implementation, but causes confusion, reduces efficiency and harms credibility. That is why the CPC leadership is very keen on the cleanup campaign. Actually the campaign is just the first step. The Party plans to regularly clean up its numerous regulations. Effective systems must assess every rule, supervise its implementation and discipline those who violate it. It is good chance for the CPC to review how to issue the right rule at the right time, improve internal management and sharpen Party supervision. The CPC Central Committee published two documents on supervision and formation of Party rules in May. One specifies which parts of the party machine can draft, approve, publish, amend and abolish regulations and the procedures they should follow. The other details how regulations should be reviewed, amended or abolished. Together, they constitute the first codification of CPC rule making since the founding of the CPC in 1921.