China’s ruling Communist Party has put its cadres on notice, initiating a nationwide campaign to enforce strict governance and performance standards ahead of leadership changes and the rollout of the country’s 15th five-year plan. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the campaign—set to continue until July—directs officials from the county level and above to correct any deviations from the “correct” line in their duties and evaluations of subordinates. Breaches cited by state media Xinhua include forming cliques, pursuing personal gain, and constructing “white elephant” projects.
The campaign was launched at a high-level meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, convened by Cai Qi, the party’s top ideology chief and fifth-ranked official, alongside Li Xi, head of party discipline and anti-corruption. Both are members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s innermost circle. At the gathering, party committees at all levels were instructed to make the campaign a priority this year, with performance assessments grounded in local realities across regions, sectors, and industries.
A notice from the party’s Central Committee, released on Monday, framed the campaign as a means to support implementation of the 15th five-year plan, China’s latest economic blueprint expected to be formally adopted during next month’s legislative session. Xinhua emphasized that officials should follow President Xi Jinping’s guidance on governance, ensuring that policies benefit the public rather than serve personal or group interests. Xi warned against short-sighted, deceptive, or reckless actions, highlighting “projects to showcase political achievements” as a major source of public dissatisfaction.
The report stressed that governance performance should not be measured solely by numerical targets but by tangible benefits to the people. Officials are urged to take long-term, national perspectives when evaluating performance and to avoid borrowing blindly or pursuing simplistic development projects that can generate long-term debt and systemic issues.
The campaign comes at a critical political moment, with preparations already underway for the party’s national congress next year, which will bring a new Central Committee and likely a leadership reshuffle. Lower-level party and government bodies are expected to complete their own leadership transitions before the congress, making the campaign’s emphasis on “correct” appraisal practices particularly timely.
Experts cited by the South China Morning Post, including Xie Maosong of Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies, noted that the campaign aims to systematically educate officials to align local economic plans with the 15th five-year plan. By emphasizing realistic governance and performance evaluation, the initiative will likely influence which officials are promoted or retained in the lead-up to the national congress, shaping China’s political landscape for the next five years.
