February 5, 2018

On January 23-24, the CIRC held its 2018 Conference on Party Conduct, Clean Governance and Discipline Inspection in Beijing. Chen Wenhui, member of the CIRC Party Committee and vice chairman of CIRC, spoke at the conference and reminded the CIRC system of the tough battle ahead in improving party conduct, clean governance, and discipline inspection, and that, accordingly, the CIRC system should take to heart the key points of the Xi Jinping Thought, the 19th CPC National Congress, and the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection; redouble its confidence and resolution in comprehensively strengthening the party discipline and make it a perennial task of the CIRC system; and focus on solving problems, maintain strategic resolve, and intensify the agency-wide program on strict party self-governance. Huang Hong and Liang Tao, members of the CIRC Party Committee and vice chairmen of CIRC, and Lin Guoyao, head of the Discipline Inspection Team dispatched to CIRC by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and member of the CIRC Party Committee, also attended the conference.

Chen Wenhui noted that, in 2017, the CIRC Party Committee implemented the decisions of the CPC Central Committee, fulfilled its mandates in strengthening party self-governance, and improved party discipline, clean governance, and discipline supervision within the CIRC system, achieving notable progress in all areas. In particular, the Party Committee: (1) pored over the guidelines of the CPC Central Committee; helped party members and officials to strengthen their belief, their understanding of the essence of the party, and their sense of integrity; and strengthened their mental defense against corruption; (2) eliminated the corruptions of Xiang Junbo; supported and implemented the decisions of the CPC Central Committee; and sanitize the political ecosystem and rebuild the insurance supervision system with absolute loyalty and subordination to the party; (3) continuously improved party conduct; enforced the Eight-Point Regulation; and focused especially on regulating processes and official acts to strengthen the disciplinary framework; (4) conducted training and supervision of party members and officials, various preventive programs to promote clean governance, and strict oversight of party officials; and responded forcefully toward violations; (5) intensified various inspection programs and political inspections especially; and emphasized solving problems and making improvements based on inspection findings; and (6) elevated the responsibilities of individuals and organizations in strict party self-governance, created the corresponding accountability system; strengthened day-to-day supervision and inspection; conducted performance evaluation on party-building; and implemented preventive measures to further clean governance.

Chen Wenhui stressed that the CIRC system should uphold the authority and central leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core, enhance adherence to the party ideology and accountability, and tighten party discipline with great courage and determination. The 19th CPC National Congress had proposed new requirements for strict party self-governance, which would guide party conduct and clean governance initiatives and discipline inspections to break new ground in the new era. The 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had likewise developed full-fledged plans for these three areas at its second plenary session. The CIRC system, therefore, should (1) under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought, implement the requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection; uphold the Four Consciousnesses and adhere to the political direction of strict party self-governance; and, in compliance with the general directives on party-building in the new era of Chinese socialism, improve the capacity and capability of the CIRC system to strengthen party discipline; (2) promote the experiences on strict party self-governance gained by the CPC Central Committee since the 18th CPC National Congress; understand the complex context facing strict party self-governance as well as existing issues and deficiencies of CIRC’s initiatives on party conduct, clean governance, discipline inspection, and anti-corruption; increase CIRC system’s sense of urgency and crisis for comprehensive strict party self-governance and for sanitizing the political ecosystem; and reflect on and investigate such issues as current deficiencies in implementing the Two Responsibilities and party conduct improvement programs; and (3) commit to solving problems, maintaining strategic resolve, and remedying weak points and institutional deficiencies with a sharp focus on major issues and key areas; enable party-building efforts to better lead regulatory works; strengthen the intensity and resolve of implementation efforts to achieve stricter party self-governance within the CIRC system; and ensure that the party wields absolute leadership over insurance-related programs.

Chen Wenhui required the CIRC system to (1) steel itself with Xi Jinping Thought and improve party conduct, clean governance, and discipline inspection throughout the CIRC system in 2018 to support insurance supervisory programs and to enable the insurance sector to better support China’s economic and social development; (2) underscore the importance of political work in party-building and strengthen party competence in all respects; ensure self-supervision and strict self-governance of the party; supervise and check the enforcement of the Party Constitution and the implementation of the directives of the 19th CPC National Congress; and foster a healthy culture of integrity within the party; (3) take a clear political stand, continuously enhance or implement the Four Consciousnesses, Four Confidences, and Four Subordinations to ensure the party conduct and clean governance initiatives and discipline inspections throughout the CIRC system are heading in the right direction; (4) strengthen political theory; and take the education program, themed “staying true to the party’s founding mission” as an opportunity and guide officials of the supervisory programs to strengthen their belief and sense of mission; (5) improve party conduct; organize events centered on the “Year of Better Conduct” throughout the CIRC system; prevent the resurgence of formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance and continuously enforce party discipline; (6) Ensure the Two Responsibilities, i.e., the responsibility of the CIRC Party Committee as the leader and the responsibility of the CIRC discipline inspection commission as the supervisor of party conduct and clean governance initiatives, are treated as a major political task and duly fulfilled; investigate and punish violations; and conduct a vigorous anti-corruption campaign by having the courage to pursue actions against any party member, rigorously enforcing disciplinary actions, and responding to all disciplinary breaches major and minor; (7) bolster discipline and political inspections; clarify inspection targets and key areas of inspection and improve the quality of inspections to raise their effectiveness; and (8) devote greater effort to build a discipline inspection team that embodies loyalty, accountability, law-abidingness, and integrity to reinvigorate inspections.

Chen Wenhui stressed that the campaign on party conduct, clean governance, and anti-corruption is a crucial and prolonged undertaking. As such, the CIRC must unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core; implement the Xi Jinping Thought and the directives of the 19th CPC National Congress and the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection; continuously reinforce and expand on the campaign progress within the CIRC system; and help discipline inspection efforts reach new heights.

Relevant persons-in-charge from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection attended the conference at CIRC’s invitation. Also in attendance were members of the Discipline Inspection Team dispatched by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to CIRC; the principal persons-in-charge, secretaries of party discipline, and persons-in-charge of discipline inspections from the various CIRC divisions; as well as the persons-in-charge from the Discipline Inspection Office and Discipline Inspection Team of the CIRC Party Committee. Principal and relevant persons-in-charge from organizations under the direct supervision of the CIRC and the leadership teams across the CIRC system were present at the conference; the leadership teams from CIRC bureaus and sub-bureaus participated in the conference through video-conferencing.

(Source: CIRC official website)