BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- In northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, eligible residents can receive certain forms of medical assistance and other support without submitting an application. Government departments share the information needed to provide the benefits.
The provincial bodies responsible for disciplinary inspection helped drive the change. They prompted civil affairs departments to build a data-sharing network connecting 33 departments and institutions, enabling 12 frequently used assistance services to be provided without applications.
The initiative offers a concrete example of how the self-supervision of the Communist Party of China (CPC) improve public services and help ensure that benefits reach those who most need them.
Earning public trust through tangible improvements in people's lives is a defining feature of the CPC's full and rigorous self-governance, which is high on the agenda of the fifth plenary session of its 20th Central Committee. The key meeting, which opened Monday in Beijing, is considering a draft decision of the CPC Central Committee on major issues concerning strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance with perseverance.
COMMITMENT TO THE PEOPLE
The CPC constitution commits the Party to serving the people, and states that it has no special interests of its own apart from those of the working class and the broadest possible majority of the people.
Without seeking self-interest, the CPC can keep its spirit of thorough self-reform, and by swiftly detecting and resolving its own problems, the Party can prevent any interest group, power group or privileged stratum from preying on or corrupting its members.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has led an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign since 2012, driven by a determination to "offend a few thousand rather than fail 1.4 billion." The campaign has targeted corrupt officials at both high and low levels.
Gyula Thurmer, president of the Hungarian Workers' Party, said serving the interests of the people is a central principle of the CPC.
He added that the Party's anti-corruption efforts have achieved significant results, strengthening internal discipline and helping implement major economic and social development programs.
SAFEGUARDING PEOPLE'S INTERESTS
Xi has called on Party members to bear in mind that "benefiting the people is their greatest political achievement."
An official review of work in 2025 reported that disciplinary and supervisory bodies nationwide investigated 967,000 cases of misconduct and corruption affecting people's daily lives, returning or helping recover about 77.6 billion yuan (11.5 billion U.S. dollars) in money and property to the public.
Faruk Boric, president of the Association of Friendship between China and Bosnia and Herzegovina, said China's efforts to pursue corrupt officials at both senior and lower levels send "a clear message that no official is above the rules, regardless of their position."
He said China's experience offers important lessons in linking clean governance with people's well-being. Protecting public funds, he added, helps direct more resources toward health care, education and other public services.
BUILDING BETTER GOVERNANCE
On several occasions, Xi has called for taking simultaneous, coordinated, and comprehensive steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt.
In his article on the Party's self-reform, Xi urged efforts to improve Party conduct, enforce discipline, and fight corruption, while integrating Party self-supervision with public oversight to deeply advance the Party's self-reform.
Lyazid Benhami, a member of the Paris Association of French-Chinese Friendship, said rigorous Party self-governance can clarify officials' responsibilities, improve coordination and help sustain development programs.
He highlighted China's emphasis on long-term planning, infrastructure, education and research, adding that the country has achieved a profound transformation regarding such priority areas and improved the well-being of its people.
Those administrative strengths matter as China implements its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). In January, Xi 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 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Volker Tschapke, honorary president of Germany's Prussian Society, said the CPC's courage to "turn the blade inward" demonstrated a "moral strength that I truly admire." He stressed that rigorous Party self-governance ultimately serves the fundamental interests of the people.
"I have seen with my own eyes what that has achieved: how villages have blossomed through targeted poverty alleviation, how rural areas have found new hope, how high-speed rail connects people and hearts," he said. ■
