- by Roland Boer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2202
Graphic: Xi’s Moments Facebook
Around the first of July, 2026, I was invited to participate in more than half a dozen television interviews and panels. The topic: the CPC’s 105th anniversary. Why all the activity on such an anniversary?
The underlying reason is that the Party has been undergoing almost fifteen years of thoroughgoing rectification and reform, or what is today known literally as “self-revolution,” but which is better rendered in English as “self-reform.” This has also been a period of significant developments in Marxist theory.
The two are closely related: major theoretical developments and breakthroughs take place during periods of more focused and intense self-reform. True, a Communist Party must always self-correct, rectify erroneous tendencies, and identify once again the original inspiration and mission, which is of course communism. However, at certain times a more thoroughgoing process of self-reform needs to take place.
This is precisely what has happened with the CPC since late 2012, after the eighteenth Party congress of that year. Let us consider some history.
Back in the first half of the 1940s, we saw the “Rectification Movement.” This was the culmination of an earlier period of study, lectures, and research in the later 1930s, the work of the Yan’an New Philosophy Association, and the preparations for a new phase of revolutionary and anti-colonial struggle. By the early 1940s, it was clear that rectification and reform of the Party needed to happen.
During this important period, there was an emphasis on correcting work styles, methods of investigation and study, the functioning of Party branches and committees, a deeper understanding of Marxist theory and practice, and much more.
What was the result? In 1945 Mao Zedong Thought was officially recognised as the leading theoretical framework for the Party. The theoretical breakthrough was as profound as it was straightforward: the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete realities. This has come to be known as the “first integration.”
This historical example provides an analogy for what has happened with the CPC since 2012. Not long after the Eighteenth Congress in early November of that year, the “Eight-Point Regulation” was promulgated and it may be summarised as follows: improving the quality of investigation and research, streamlining meetings and activities, simplifying documents and briefings, regulating travel and visits, minimising security protocols so as to cause minimal disruption, improving news reporting, strictly regulating the publication of documents, and practising diligence and thrift.
Simple and yet profound, these regulations marked the beginning of one of the most comprehensive processes of self-reform in the Party’s history. The aim has been a thorough improvement of the work-style of Party members, from grassroots branches and organisations to the highest level. With one set of regulations after another, fostering new talent, focusing on strict rules and promoting diligent work-style, and re-integrating the Party with all levels of society, governance, and economic activity, the result is notable.
I can attest from first-hand experience and a significant amount of research how grassroots Party secretaries, branches, and committees are trusted by the locals, how they live simple lives at no higher standard than those with whom they work, and focus on the tasks at hand with full accountability.
This brings us back to the theoretical breakthroughs in Marxism. A little before the first of July in 2026, the first two volumes of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Party Building were published. This collection embodies what is known as “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building.” These works may be added to thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, on culture, on political economy, and on governance. Together, these works are a significant theoretical advance in the practice of Marxism so as to provide a valuable reference point for the future.
Self-revolution, self-reform, rectification – the terms may vary, the times differ, but the principle remains: periods of profound self-reform of the Party are also periods of significant breakthroughs in Marxist theory.
How to summarise the theoretical achievements of the last 15 year? Perhaps we can put it this way: the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture. The shorthand is the “two integrations.”
