Understanding the self-revolution of a revolutionary Party

Editor's Note: Xia Lu is a professor at the School of CPC History and Party Building and a research associate at the National Academy of Development and Strategies of Renmin University of China.

The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Since 2012, taking full and vigorous management of the Party and promoting self-revolution have become the main theme of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) long-term Party-building project.

The CPC's emphasis on "self-revolution" should be understood not as a call for another social revolution, but as a theory of how a ruling party can continuously reform, discipline and renew itself while remaining in power.

Despite its achievements, people still ask questions like why the CPC thinks it is necessary, what the project actually consists of, and which parts may be relevant to developing countries.

This essay seeks to help readers understand the aspiration and mission of a revolutionary Party.

Why did the CPC elevate 'self-revolution' to such an important concept? The basic problem the CPC identified is a very old one: how does a political organization that has accumulated enormous power prevent that power from producing corruption, bureaucratization, complacency and ultimately political decline? The CPC's own historical formulation is unusually explicit.

Its 2021 historical resolution says that a Marxist ruling party's advanced character cannot simply be assumed; it has to be maintained through continuous self-reform, criticism and correction of mistakes.

It describes the Party's ability to "own up to its errors" and reform itself as part of the explanation for its longevity.

This connects to what Chinese political discourse calls the "historical cycle": governing organizations rise, become successful, accumulate privileges and eventually become detached from society and lose their capacity to govern.

"Self-revolution" is intended to interrupt that cycle before the deterioration becomes existential.

This is why the concept became particularly prominent in the new era.

Since 2012, it has been translated into an extensive program of Party discipline, anti-corruption, cadre supervision, ideological education, organizational reform and institutionalization of Party rules.

In January 2026, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, again described confining power within an institutional framework, strengthening supervision and continuing the anti-corruption campaign as central components of full and rigorous Party self-governance.