Communist Party of China rolls out 'mass line' rules

The central authorities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have issued a circular on the next phase of the "mass line" campaign to strengthen ties between the people and the Party. Launched in June 2013, the initiative was aimed at making government more accessible to the general population, while cleaning up four undesirable work styles -- formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance. The campaign has started its second phase scheduled from January to September 2014, targeting low-level departments and leaderships, such as those of city and county-level as well as grassroot units, while the first phase of the campaign included provincial-level departments, according to the circular issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Experts estimated the second phase will cover more than 69 million Party members in 140,000 cities, counties and townships. The second phase will focus on improving work styles in the grassroots, including preventing image projects or those showing off achievements of certain government officials, according to the circular. Officials are urged to solve all problems that undermine the people's interests concerning education, employment, social insurance, medical care and housing, and to safeguard their legitimate rights about food and drug safety, public security, judicial justice and petitioning. The circular pledged severe punishment for corrupt officials and those found weak, lazy, undisciplined and abusing power in serving the people. Nearly 7,700 officials were given punishment for violating CPC rules during the first batch of the campaign and experts believe the second phase will be more strict in rectifying officials' undesirable work style. Each member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will choose a county as a point of contact to guide the "mass line" campaign. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said on Monday during a mobilization meeting that the "mass line" campaign is like a CPC "hereditary treasure" that can keep its vitality, while he called for a focus on both education and practice in its tenets so as to establish the mass viewpoint of Marxism deeply into Party members' minds and their actions. He warned against any restoration of undesirable work styles, saying that although the campaign will run for a limited time, implementing the mass line is an everlasting mission.