Enhancing Multi-party Bonds

On March 4, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called the CPC-led multi-party cooperation and political consultation system a basic Chinese political system and a new type of party system sprouting from the nation’s soil at a joint panel discussion with political advisors from the China Democratic League, the China Zhi Gong Party and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese as well as participants without party affiliation, during the First Session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

President Xi stressed that the system is new because it combines Marxist political party theory with China’s realities, representing the fundamental interests of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a true, extensive and long-term manner as it fulfills their aspirations and avoids the defects of the old-fashioned party system which represents only a minority of the people and a few interest groups. 

Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, regards the new party system as a great innovation combining Marxist political party theory with China’s realities, making it a brand new form of political party structure. As a developing country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, China needs a party system that represents the interests of the majority of people to meet their diverse demands while addressing unbalanced and insufficient development realities. One of the distinctive features of the new party system is win-win cooperation. It respects differences and diversity and attaches importance to both the fundamental interests of all people and the specific interests of people from different classes, seeking mutual benefits and win-win outcomes while advancing the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Wang Xiaofan, vice-president of Shanghai University and deputy dean of Zhiyuan College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University as well as a member of the CPPCC National Committee, noted that the advantages of the new type of party system are manifested in its features of distinctive political nature, extensive representation, great inclusiveness and full democracy. 

In recent years, the brilliant achievements of the CPPCC have also evidenced the advantage of the new type of party system, which is a positive contribution to the development of humanity’s political civilization, he added.

The system is new, as President Xi remarked, because it unites all political parties and people without party affiliation towards a common goal, effectively preventing problems stemming from an absence of oversight in one-party rule as well as power rotation and vicious competitions that come with multiple political parties.

“This new type of party system gives China a unique political advantage and is the inevitable choice for China’s social development in modern times,” declared Pang Da, vice chairman of the provincial CPPCC committee of Heilongjiang and member of the CPPCC National Committee. “Not only does it contrast two-party and multi-party systems in many Western countries but also one-party systems in some other countries.” Pang believes that this new type of party relationship reflects the essential nature of China’s socialist political party system and meets the essential requirements of China’s socialist democracy, so its importance will be increasingly manifested in the future.

Zheng Bingwen, director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, explained that this new type of party system avoids the negative impacts of power rotations and vicious competitions among the multiple political parties vying for power on a country’s political cycle, economic cycle and social cycle. Meanwhile, it also guarantees the vitality of the Party and the country.

As President Xi noted, the system is new because it pools ideas and suggestions through institutional, procedural, and standardized arrangements and develops a scientific and democratic decision-making mechanism.

It steers clear of the shortcomings of outdated party systems, in which decision-making and governance are confined to the interests of different political parties, classes, regions and groups and eventually tear society apart.

One of the most important advantages of this new type of party system is that it produces a “concentric-circles effect” by following the scientific and democratic decision-making process, so it can fully reflect the common will of the whole society and all the people, Professor Xin Ming added.

“In the future, we will continue to contribute more suggestions and practice to make sure our advice is solid and sound, prudent and practical,” said Qian Xueming, vice chairman of the CPPCC committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and head of the Guangxi committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA). “And we will make more efforts to offer useful suggestions on key issues to achieve substantial results through sincere and pragmatic consultation.”