The CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee held a group study session, during which local Party members listened to a report themed “furthering the study of Party history and enhancing Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership on April 13. The report was given by Mei Lihong, a professor with the Shanghai Party Institute of CPC & Shanghai Administration Institute.

Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang presided over the group study session. He stressed that Shanghai is the birthplace of the CPC and where the dream began. Party organizations as well as Party members and officials at all levels across the city must  take a clear-cut stand to enhancing the Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership, must focus on and follow the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s remarks made during his inspection in Shanghai and his instructions made for Shanghai’s development in their daily work, implement the national strategic tasks and the major strategic arrangements for the 14th Five-Year Plan period on the new journey, in an effort to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party with outstanding achievements.

According to the circular issued by the CPC Central Committee on conducting Party-wide campaign of Party history learning and education as well as the arrangements made by Shanghai authorities for carrying out the campaign, the municipal Party committee decided to both hold group study sessions and reading class. Apart from reading On the History of the Communist Party of China by Xi Jinping, Excerpts from Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao on the History of the Chinese Communist Party and other learning materials, group study sessions are held to study the history of China’s New Democratic Revolution, the socialist revolution and construction, and the reform and opening up.

The report given by Mei Lihong reviews the 100-year development of the CPC, presented a series of historical events, illustrated the significance of strengthening Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership, with the focus on the big measures taken after the 18th CPC National Congress to uphold the authority of the Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership. Mei also exchanged ideas with the attendees on the Party history learning campaign based on their ideological and work conditions.

The foundation and lifeblood of the CPC and the country as well as the fundamental interests of all our ethnic groups boil down to enhancing Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and resolutely safeguarding its authority, as well as ensuring all directives and orders of the CPC Central Committee must be executed without fail.

Li pointed out that enhancing Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership constitutes important part of Marxist theory of Party building, and also plays a key role in building a powerful Marxist party. The CPC’s century-long journey proves that the foundation and lifeblood of the CPC and the country as well as the fundamental interests of all our ethnic groups boil down to enhancing Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and resolutely safeguarding its authority, as well as ensuring all directives and orders of the CPC Central Committee must be executed without fail. With Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and the firm leading core put in place, our Party can constantly pool mighty forces and lead the Chinese people from victory to victory.

Today we are faced with unprecedented opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges. Now we need a strong leadership core of the CPC Central Committee more than any period in history.

Li said urged efforts to strengthen Party members’ consciousness of the need to bear in mind China’s domestic and international interests, enhance Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership, resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and resolutely uphold the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership. Confronted with the changing nature and conditions in the important period of strategic opportunities for China’s development, this period has brought about unprecedented opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges. Now we need a strong leadership core of the CPC Central Committee more than any period in history. We must strengthen Party’s solidarity; maintain political integrity, think in terms of the big picture, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership; have full confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and resolutely uphold the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership (two upholds), so as to ensure the great ship of China can continue to ride the wind and crest the waves, sailing forward determinedly.

Solid measures are needed to enhance Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and ensure two upholds.

Li pointed out that in order to enhance Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and ensure two upholds, Party members need to earnestly study Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, and enhance theoretical competence. More efforts are urged to closely follow the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in thinking, stance, and action, and keep enhancing Party members’ capacity for political judgment, thinking, and implementation. We need to adhere to the principle of democratic centralism, observe the Party’s organizational principles and its organizational System, enhance the concept of organization, and follow the principles that individual Party members defer to Party organizations, the minority defers to the majority, lower-level Party organizations defer to higher-level Party organizations, and all organizations and members of the Party defer to the National Congress and the Central Committee of the Party. We must enhance the rigidity of discipline, and attach primary importance to discipline and rules. Party discipline should be stricter than law. We should enhance supervision, urge the entire Party to bear in mind the “five must-do’s” and prevent the “seven types of misconduct,” and take solid measures to enhance Party’s solidarity and centralized and united leadership and ensure two upholds. Party members should forge ahead along the path that Xi has charted for us, focus on completing the major tasks Xi has assigned, forge ahead under the guidance of Xi’s work approaches, and overcome difficulties in line with Xi’s requirements, so as to promote high-quality economic development, deepen high-level reform and opening up, create a high-quality life, explore high-efficiency governance, strive to create new miracles, and open new prospects.