Merits of China's Unique Political Party System

The Decision on Some Major Issues Concerning How to Uphold and Improve the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advance the Modernization of China's System and Capacity for Governance adopted by the fourth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) puts forward the strategic plan on adhering to and improving the multi-party cooperation system and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) under the CPC's leadership. This also constitutes an important part of adhering to and improving the systems and institutions that ensure the people's participation in the running of the country, an important part of the efforts to develop socialist democracy. The decision is of great significance to adhering to and improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, promoting the modernization of the national governance system and the capacity for governance, and demonstrating the CPC's firm institutional confidence and political capacity.
The party system is the core component of modern political civilization and one of the pillars of a country's political system building. The political system of a country is determined by its basic national conditions, cultural basis, and political development path. A system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC is the basic political system in China. It is a great political creation of the CPC, the Chinese people, and all democratic parties and patriots without party affiliation. It is a political party system which has grown out of Chinese soil and fully embodies the unique advantages of the socialist political system in China.
This basic political system is embodied in the systematic arrangement of multi-party cooperation with the CPC as the ruling party and other political parties participating in governance, and the principles of long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, sincere treatment of each other, and sharing weal or woe. So what are the merits of this basic political system?
While attending a panel discussion at the 2018 session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), President Xi Jinping called the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation led by the CPC "a new type of party system," and expounded its unique advantages and distinctive characteristics.
The new type of party system has emerged out of the combination of the Marxist theory on political parties and China's reality. It can truly and comprehensively represent and realize the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people from all walks of life of all ethnic groups in the country, and effectively avoid the disadvantages of the old political party system that represents smaller interest groups. The core leading position of the CPC has been buttressed because the Communist Party of China has been shouldering the mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and realizing rejuvenation of the Chinese nation since its establishment. Apart from safeguarding the interests of the people, it has not sought any special interests of its own, so the CPC has the strongest centripetal force and charisma, fully reflecting its people-oriented nature and the distinct characteristic of putting the interests of the people at the center.
The new type of party system can help unite all political parties and people with no party affiliation closely and strive toward common goals, effectively avoiding the disadvantages of lacking supervision under the governance of one ruling party or a multi-party system of taking turns and vicious competition. This arrangement of the political party system can show the advantages of China's new type of party system through strengthening the building of the socialist political party system with Chinese characteristics, improving the mechanisms of mutual supervision, especially the mechanism that the CPC consciously accepts supervision and facilitates special supervision on the implementation of major decisions, improving the system that the central committees of the democratic parties can directly put forward suggestions to the CPC Central Committee, and improving the methods of supporting the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation in performing their functions.
The CPPCC, as a form of democracy, can better aggregate broad consensus by improving the level of political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in deliberation and administration of state affairs. In recent years, by improving the system of special consultative institutions of the CPPCC, enriching the forms of consultation, improving the rules of consultation, and optimizing the setting of sectors, the CPPCC has ensured a two-way procedure mechanism, through which to both promote democracy and enhance unity, while making suggestions on state affairs and building consensus.
Moreover, the new type of party system ensures the gathering of various opinions and suggestions through institutionalized, procedural, and standardized arrangements, and promotes scientific and democratic decision-making, effectively avoiding the disadvantages of the old party system that were limited to party interests, class interests, regional, and group interests, and lead to social divisions in the end.
Socialist consultative democracy is the unique advantage of this political party system. By promoting party consultation, the National People's Congress consultation, government consultation, CPPCC consultation, people's organization consultation, grass-roots consultation, and social organization consultation in a coordinated way, China has built a cohesively interlinked democratic system of consultation with reasonable procedures, and improved the implementation mechanism of consultation before and during decision-making, which greatly enriches the practice of system-building in which the affairs of the people are discussed by all.
Practice has proved that the new type of party system with Chinese characteristics is indeed a good system, for it is not only in line with the reality of contemporary China and the excellent traditional cultural concepts that the Chinese nation has always advocated such as the whole world as one community, inclusiveness, seeking common ground while reserving differences, but it also is compatible with the state system of the people's democratic dictatorship. With superiority and strong vitality, China's party system is a great contribution to human political civilization.
The multi-party cooperation system and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC has gone through a journey of 70 glorious years, during which it has also weathered many challenges. Practice has proven that as a basic political system of a country, it is not closed and unchangeable, but open, advancing with the times, able to stand the test of history, and has a broad development prospect.
China is now in the key stage of realizing socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, coinciding with the "golden period" of development and the "prominent period" of social contradictions. The CPPCC's task of uniting people and building consensus is more pressing and arduous, which puts forward new and higher requirements for upholding and improving this basic political system. The CPPCC has the responsibility to cherish, always adhere to, and constantly develop and improve the new type of party system. Standing at a new historical starting point, the CPC will remain true to its original aspiration by carrying forward excellent traditions and keeping abreast with the times. The country is poised to develop and improve the new type of party system, and constantly push forward the cause of the CPPCC to the new height.