A KEY meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has adopted a draft plan for the reform of Party and State institutions as part of broader efforts to enhance the Party’s leadership over the nation’s socialist modernization.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made an important speech at the three-day meeting.

A communique released after the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which was held in Beijing from Sunday to Tuesday, said the meeting agreed to submit part of the draft plan for deliberation to the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress, which will open in Beijing on Sunday.

The meeting reviewed and adopted a list of proposed candidates for the leading positions of State institutions to be recommended to the NPC session, as well as a list of proposed candidates for the leadership of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to be recommended to the first session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, which will open Saturday.

In deepening institutional reform, the meeting stressed the imperative need to bolster the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities.

Efforts are needed to deepen institutional reform in key areas and ensure that the Party’s leadership becomes more refined in institutional setup, more optimized in the division of functions, more improved in institutions and mechanisms, and more efficient in operation and management, the communique said.

The meeting urged all local authorities and departments to fully appreciate the importance and urgency of the reform of Party and State institutions, and faithfully implement the tasks of institutional reform.

The meeting pledged to step up efforts to ensure the public’s well-being, including steps to put in place the employment-first policy, guarantee the living standards of vulnerable groups and strengthen weak links in healthcare, especially in relation to services in rural and urban areas.

It reiterated the need to improve the policy system to encourage childbirth, move forward with rural vitalization, consolidate the outcomes from poverty alleviation and prevent the recurrence of poverty on a large scale.

The meeting reaffirmed the nation’s unwavering commitment to reform and opening up, pledging to adopt a host of “strategic, innovative and guiding” reform measures and work toward new breakthroughs in key areas and procedures.

(China Daily)