As the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrates its 105th founding anniversary, scholars attribute the Party's remarkable longevity and success largely to its continued commitment to self-revolution aiming at combating corruption and strengthening clean governance.
At the Party Spirit Education Base for Comprehensive and Strict Party Self-Governance, located at the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee Party School, abstract concepts of self-discipline are made tangible through immersive exhibitions. These displays feature stories of exemplary cadres alongside cautionary cases of corruption.
From its earliest days, the Party demanded strict political and organizational discipline.
Since its 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC has pursued an unprecedented anti-corruption drive to ensure that Party and government officials at all levels do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption.
"Guided by (General Secretary Xi Jinping's) addresses and theories, we will unify our thinking, build consensus, improve our abilities and quality, strengthen our capability for modernization, adjust our mindset and enhance competence to fully realize the second centenary goal," said Gu Yang, an associate professor of the Party School of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee.
Official data shows that in 2025, China's discipline inspection and supervision agencies filed more than 1 million cases, handing disciplinary or administrative penalties to 983,000 individuals involved in corruption.
"The external oversight and the internal self-discipline jointly solve the challenges of preserving the CPC's advanced nature, and consolidating the Party's core leadership position and its long-term governance. Polls run by Harvard Kennedy School for over a decade in China show the Chinese people's satisfaction with the government consistently stays above 90 percent," said Luo Wendong, secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
International observers also highlighted the CPC's vigorous anti-corruption efforts.
"There are three things I would observe that make China's campaign different. One of them is that it is systematic. Another of the key differences is that it's addressed to 'tigers and flies'. You go after the people who cause most annoyance to ordinary people. And the third major distinction is that it's genuine. If you look at the [cases], some of the most serious offenders were dealt with, [and] they were occasionally subject to capital punishment," said David Ferguson, honorary chief English editor of the Foreign Languages Press of China International Communications Group.
As China has embarked on its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, has urged efforts to confine power to an institutional cage in a more well-conceived and effective manner, and press ahead with the anti-corruption fight with a clearer understanding and stronger resolve, thus providing a strong guarantee for achieving the goals and tasks of the new five-year period.
Self-revolution sustains vitality of CPC over past 150 years: scholars
