CPC upholds strengthening Party regulations, institutions: official

The Communist Party of China (CPC) upholds strengthening Party regulations and institutions, which represents a long-term, fundamental strategy for ensuring full and rigorous Party self-governance, a senior Party official said at a press conference on Friday in Beijng after the conclusion of the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

The plenary session, held from Monday to Thursday in Beijing, adopted a resolution on persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance.

The CPC will improve the system of regulations and institutions within the Party, said Xie Chuntao, vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

"The priority should be given to top-level design, identifying and plugging the loopholes, and raising quality and effectiveness, including scientifically drawing up Party regulations and work plans, coordinating their enactment, revision, repeal and interpretation, fixing institutional weak points in a timely manner, and raising the quality of rule-making," Xie said.

Xie said the CPC will strengthen the enforcement of the regulatory system as the vitality of regulations and institutions lies in their enforcement.

"The vitality of regulations and institutions lies in their enforcement. At present, there are regulations to follow in the exercise of Party self-governance and discipline in general. However, the implementation of these regulations still needs to be further strengthened. In this regard, the resolution sets out arrangements in areas such as increasing the openness of the regulations and institutions within the Party, strengthening the study and training on the regulations and institutions, and enhancing the implementation and oversight of the system," Xie said.

Xie stressed that the CPC will also vigorously eliminate hidden rules.

"For some time, various hidden rules have existed to varying degrees within and outside the Party, undermining the authority and enforceability of Party regulations and discipline. These have drawn strong public concern. The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to this issue, and General Secretary Xi Jinping has set clear requirements on multiple occasions. The resolution emphasizes the need to establish explicit rules, and proposes corresponding measures in areas such as promoting the transparency of Party and government affairs, strengthening education and guidance, rectifying relevant malpractices, and establishing sound institutional mechanisms," he said.

To fulfill the political responsibility of full and rigorous Party self-governance, Party organizations at all levels and all Party members and officials must work together, Xie said.

CPC upholds strengthening Party regulations, institutions: official

CPC upholds strengthening Party regulations, institutions: official

CPC upholds strengthening Party regulations, institutions: official

CPC upholds strengthening Party regulations, institutions: official

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at around 1.25 percent after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting on Friday.

The widely expected decision came after the central bank raised the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to a 31-year high of 1.25 percent at its previous policy meeting in September.

In its quarterly economic outlook report released after the meeting, the BOJ said that with the policy interest rate now higher than in the past, it is important to examine how financial conditions change under such circumstances.

The BOJ also said that Japan's underlying inflation has "generally" reached its 2 percent price stability target, nearly 14 years after the goal was set as part of efforts to end decades of deflation.

At a post-meeting press conference, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank's monetary policy will increasingly focus on keeping underlying inflation firmly anchored around 2 percent, signaling that the BOJ could raise rates further to prevent price increases from overshooting the target.

The BOJ cited higher prices of crude oil, semiconductors and other items, as well as the yen's depreciation, among the factors currently pushing up prices and likely to keep doing so for some time. It said it will closely monitor the impact of the situation in the Middle East, global demand related to artificial intelligence, and foreign exchange rate movements on Japan's economic activity and prices.

In the outlook report, the BOJ raised its core consumer price inflation forecast for fiscal 2027 to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent, while lowering its real GDP growth projection to 0.7 percent from 0.8 percent.

The BOJ first adopted its 2 percent inflation target in January 2013, initially aiming to achieve it in about two years.

In April that year, under then-Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, the central bank launched an aggressive monetary easing program, but the target remained out of reach, with the BOJ repeatedly pushing back the timeline.

Japan's recent inflation has been fueled largely by external factors such as higher energy prices, and analysts said sustained wage growth would be key to creating a virtuous cycle of rising wages and prices.

The BOJ has one more policy meeting this year, scheduled for Dec. 17-18, at which markets increasingly expect another rate hike.

Japan's central bank keeps interest rate unchanged