New Politburo's First Meeting - Full 20th Congress Report - Details on Drafting of the Report - CMC Meeting on Publicising & Implementing Spirit of 20th Party Congress
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Wednesday, October 26, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: Today’s front page is all about the 20th Party Congress report and the first meeting of the new Politburo. The full text of the report is published in the paper, with the English version available here. I’ve already done a breakdown of this document, which is available here.
The other article related to the document is about how it was put together. The article informs that Xi Jinping led the drafting of the report throughout the entire process and put in a lot of effort. 习近平总书记对党的二十大报告起草工作高度重视，全程领导了报告起草工作，倾注了大量心血.
In January 2022, Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the PBSC and Politburo, deciding to set up a drafting group for the report. This group was headed by Xi, with Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, and Han Zheng as the deputy heads, and relevant party and state leaders, relevant departments and local responsible comrades participated. 2022年1月，习近平总书记主持召开中共中央政治局常委会、中央政治局会议，决定成立党的二十大文件起草组。文件起草组由习近平总书记担任组长，王沪宁、赵乐际、韩正同志担任副组长，党和国家有关领导同志、有关部门和地方负责同志参加.
The article informs that the drafting group held six plenary meetings, dozens of group and working group meetings and thematic meetings throughout the process. But only four of these plenaries are discussed in the article.
On February 16, 2022, the first plenary meeting of the drafting group was held. At this meeting, Xi talked about the five aspects that must be fully grasped in the drafting of the report. This is sort of the strategic perspective — or as the article puts it the “new historical characteristics” — that the report must reflect and the issues that China must contend with going ahead.
First, the Party has gone through a hundred years of brilliant achievements; it is uniting and leading the people to carry forward the past and forge ahead into the future, and continues to win the great victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics under the new historical conditions. China's development is facing new strategic opportunities.
Second, the Party united and led the people to achieve the first centennial goal, built a comprehensively moderately prosperous society, solved the historic problem of absolute poverty, and has embarked on a new journey of achieving the second centennial goal and building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. China's development is facing new strategic tasks.
Third, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has made historic achievements. It has not only entered an irreversible historical process, but has also entered a critical period of taking advantage of the momentum to ensure that the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will not be delayed or even interrupted. China's development is facing a new strategic stage.
Fourth, the first decade of the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics has passed, and we must continue to create a new situation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. China's development is facing new strategic requirements.
Fifth, the once-in-a-century changes and the once-in-a-century pandemic are intertwined. The world has entered a new period of turbulent changes. World peace and development are facing severe challenges, and the external environment is more unstable and uncertain. China development is facing a new strategic environment.
一是党已经走过创造辉煌的一百年，正团结带领人民承前启后、继往开来、在新的历史条件下继续夺取中国特色社会主义伟大胜利，我国发展面临新的战略机遇。二是党团结带领人民实现了第一个百年奋斗目标，全面建成了小康社会，历史性地解决了绝对贫困问题，踏上了实现第二个百年奋斗目标、全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程，我国发展面临新的战略任务。三是中华民族伟大复兴取得历史性成就，既进入了不可逆转的历史进程，也进入了乘势而上、确保中华民族伟大复兴不被迟滞甚至打断的关键时期，我国发展面临新的战略阶段。四是中国特色社会主义新时代已经走过第一个十年，必须继续开创新时代中国特色社会主义事业新局面，我国发展面临新的战略要求。五是百年变局和世纪疫情相互交织，世界进入新的动荡变革期，世界和平与发展面临严峻挑战，外部环境更加不稳定、不确定，我国发展面临新的战略环境.
At this plenary meeting, Xi told the attendees that “not only must the report be in line with the theme of the reports of the 18th and 19th Congresses, but it should also fully reflect the new requirements of the new era, new journey, and new stage.” — “既要同党的十八大、十九大报告主题一脉相承，又要充分体现新时代、新征程、新阶段的新要求.
The next two plenary meetings of the drafting group were on March 15 and May 17. At the March meeting, the article says that the members exchanged their understanding of Xi’s speech and then discussed the major theoretical and practical issues involved in the report. At the May plenary, Xi received feedback and suggestions from various regions and departments, and studied and discussed the framework plan for the 20th Party Congress. At this meeting, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly put forward four requirements, which provided the fundamental guidelines for the drafting of the report: - 习近平总书记听取各地区各部门各方面反馈意见和建议汇总情况汇报，研究讨论党的二十大报告框架方案。这次会议上，习近平总书记明确提出四点要求，为报告起草工作提供了根本遵循：
These are:
Grasp the historical position, i.e., grasping the historical orientation and characteristics of the times in the new development stage are the basis and foundation for drafting the report
Focus on strategic tasks, i.e., focus on strategic tasks for the next five years, but this must be done by keeping in mind the second centennial goal
Insist on integrity and innovation, i.e., inherit ideas and policies but als innovate
Enhance the fighting spirit, i.e., face problems upfront
——把握历史方位。“把面临的形势分析透，把握住新发展阶段的历史方位和时代特点，是起草好党的二十大报告的前提和基础”。——聚焦战略任务。“在部署改革发展稳定、内政外交国防、治党治国治军等各项工作时要锚定第二个百年奋斗目标，紧紧围绕未来5年党的战略任务展开”。——坚持守正创新。在思想理念、政策举措上既要继承，又要勇于创新。——增强斗争精神。“要充分体现敢于斗争、敢于胜利的精气神，各方面战略谋划和工作举措都要直面矛盾和问题”。
At this meeting, it was decided that the report would contain 15 sections and the drafting team was divided into five groups, each handed specific aspects to cover. The first draft of the report was then discussed during the fourth meeting of the drafting group on June 27th. Then on July 11 and July 21, Xi led meetings of the PBSC and Politburo, respectively, which reviewed the draft report. The PBSC members agreed with the framework, content, structure, major ideas and main formulation of the draft report, and put forward specific suggestions for improving it. 7月11日和7月21日，习近平总书记主持召开中央政治局常委会会议，审议党的二十大报告送审稿。中央政治局常委同志赞成报告稿的框架思路、内容结构、重大思想、主要提法，并对完善报告稿提出了具体建议.
Then on July 26, Xi addressed a study session of provincial and ministerial-level officials, discussing key aspects heading into the Congress. Xinhua English had a detailed report on Xi’s comments back then. The article adds that
General Secretary Xi Jinping attached great importance to the drafting of the 20th Party Congress report from the beginning to the end; he led the whole process, presided over several working meetings of the drafting group, presided over many meetings of the PBSC and Politburo to review the draft report, and discussed and studied major theoretical and practical issues related to the development of the cause of the Party and the country.党的二十大报告起草过程中，习近平总书记自始至终高度重视、全程领导，多次主持召开起草组工作会议，多次主持中央政治局常委会会议、中央政治局会议审议报告稿，对涉及党和国家事业发展的重大理论和实践问题进行讨论研究.
This section of the article then ends with a lot of praise for Xi, for his “new and pioneering theoretical creations with extraordinary theoretical courage, outstanding political wisdom, and strong sense of mission” and his “firm ideals and beliefs, sincere feelings for the people, high degree of historical awareness, and a strong sense of responsibility.”
The next section of the article talks about the process of seeking comments, feedback and ideas for the report. This is supposed to underscore the “democratic” nature of this process. I am not sharing all the details, but the article says that on January 27, the initial notice to solicit opinions was issued. After this, there’s a listing of all the research groups that conducted discussions and gathered views and put together reports. There’s also a reference to online information solicitation.
One key point is this: “On June 9, August 18, August 23, August 26 and August 29, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over five meetings in Chengdu, Shenyang and Beijing to solicit opinions on the drafting of the report and the revision to the Party constitution. He listened to the opinions and suggestions put forward by the main responsible comrades of the Party and government across 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, major units of the People's Liberation Army and relevant departments of the Central Military Commission.” 6月9日、8月18日、8月23日、8月26日、8月29日，习近平总书记先后在成都、沈阳、北京主持召开五场党的二十大报告起草和党章修改工作征求意见座谈会，听取31个省区市党政主要负责同志、解放军各大单位和中央军委机关有关部门主要负责同志提出的修改意见和建议.
The report adds that the July 21st meeting of the PBSC reviewed the draft report for the second time after having first done so on July 11th and unanimously agreed on the amendments to the draft report. Likewise on July 28, the Politburo reviewed the report for the first time and unanimously approved the draft report. 7月11日，中央政治局常委会会议第一次审议党的二十大报告送审稿。中央政治局常委同志赞成报告稿的框架思路、内容结构、重大思想、主要提法，认为报告稿立意高远、视野宽阔、亮点很多，思想性、理论性、战斗性都很强，并对修改完善报告稿提出了重要意见。7月21日，中央政治局常委会会议第二次审议报告稿，常委同志一致同意关于报告稿的修改建议。7月28日，中央政治局会议第一次审议党的二十大报告送审稿。中央政治局委员一致赞成报告稿.
After this, on August 4, the General Office of the Central Committee issued a notice to various regions and departments to organise discussions and solicit opinions on the report. By September 1, according to statistics, 108 units had submitted written opinions on the basis of soliciting the opinions of more than 4,700 people. After elimination repetitions, a total of 1,435 revisions were proposed.--- Of course, we are not told whether any of these had anything substantive in them and how these were processed, accepted or rejected. What matters is to put forward a large number and demonstrate that the process was consultative.
The piece adds that “according to the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, the document drafting team also absorbed the opinions and suggestions of comrades from the central leadership and older comrades who have retired from the central leadership positions.” 根据习近平总书记重要指示精神，文件起草组还吸纳了中央领导同志、从中央领导职务上退下来的老同志对报告征求意见稿的意见和建议.
By the time it was submitted to the seventh plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee for deliberation, the drafting group had made 260 additions, rewrites, and changes to simplify the text, covering 269 opinions and suggestions from various segments. 截止到提交党的十九届七中全会审议，文件起草组对党的二十大报告稿共作出增写、改写、文字精简260处，覆盖各方面意见和建议269条.
Before the report was submitted, however, the PBSC got a third review on September 7th, followed by a second review by the Politburo on September 9th. Then, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over meetings of the PBSC and Politburo on September 26 and 29, respectively, to discuss the draft resolution of the 20th Party Congress on the document. On October 9, the Seventh Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee was held. All the comrades of the document drafting group carefully listened to the opinions and suggestions of the comrades present at the meeting, and made improvements to the draft report. 9月26日、29日，习近平总书记分别主持中央政治局常委会会议和中央政治局会议，研究党的二十大关于十九届中央委员会报告的决议稿。10月9日，党的十九届七中全会召开。文件起草组全体同志认真听取与会同志意见建议，对报告稿进行完善修改.
The piece also says that during the 20th Party Congress, the draft report was revised according to the feedback from the delegations and attendees.---I don’t think this was anything of relevance. A printed copy was available at the venue during the opening, from what I have gathered. So I’d be really surprised if there was anything of significance that was changed, if anything at all. 党的二十大召开期间，根据各代表团和列席人员讨论反馈的意见，对报告稿又作出了修改.
The final section talks about the structure and contents of the report along with some bits on the discussions at the Congress. This is noteworthy.
When discussing the report, delegates to the 20th Party Congress said that amid the the great changes of the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping, as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole party, held the flag, took charge at the helm and steered the way amid a changing situation; he was decisive in command and devised strategies. He turned the tide and became the mainstay amid the stormy waves, fully demonstrating his grandeur, foresight, and grand strategy as a Marxist statesman, thinker, and strategist. He deserves to be the core of the party, the leader of the people, the commander of the army, and is worthy of being the helm and the pilot of the great ship of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 二十大代表在讨论报告中纷纷表示，新时代伟大变革中，习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心，在风云变幻中举旗定向、掌舵领航，在大战大考中指挥若定、运筹帷幄，在惊涛骇浪中力挽狂澜、砥柱中流，充分彰显了作为马克思主义政治家、思想家、战略家的恢弘气魄、远见卓识、雄韬伟略，不愧为党的核心、人民领袖、军队统帅，不愧为中华民族伟大复兴号巨轮的掌舵者、领航人.
“Facts have proved that the Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the entire party, and established the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which is of decisive significance for the development of the Party and the country in the new era and for promoting the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 事实证明，党确立习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，确立习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指导地位，对新时代党和国家事业发展、对推进中华民族伟大复兴历史进程具有决定性意义.
The third article on the page is about the first meeting of the new Politburo. Xinhua English has a good summary of the report. It says that the meeting “deliberated the regulations on strengthening and safeguarding the Party Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership, and the detailed rules for the implementation of the eight-point decision on work conduct.”
The report says that “studying, publicizing and implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress is a primary political task for the Party and the country at present and for some time to come…The meeting demanded a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It also stressed understanding of major issues including Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and the Chinese path to modernization. The comprehension of the strategic arrangements made by the 20th CPC National Congress for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects was underscored at the meeting. The meeting emphasized that the arrangements and requirements set forth by the 20th CPC National Congress ought to be implemented in all aspects of economic and social development. It also stressed preparing, both mentally and in the work, for all kinds of complex issues. Upholding and strengthening the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee is the common political responsibility of the entire Party, the meeting underscored. It stressed maintaining a high degree of unity ideologically, politically, and in action with the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The meeting also underscored continuous efforts in addressing the problems of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism, and maintaining close ties with the people.”
This above text reminded me of Eric Cartman:
Anyway, the PD report adds to the above, informing that “the Central Propaganda Group should play an exemplary role. All localities and departments should set up propaganda teams, organise grass-roots propaganda, and carry out propaganda in close contact with the ideological and work practices of the cadres and the masses, so that the people can understand, grasp and implement the outcomes, thereby further promoting the spirit of the 20th Party Congress to the grassroots level and among the masses.” 中央宣讲团要发挥好示范作用，各地区各部门要抽调骨干力量组建宣讲队伍，组织好面向基层的宣讲，紧密联系广大干部群众思想实际和工作实际开展宣讲，让人民群众听得懂、能领会、可落实，推动党的二十大精神走进基层、走进群众.
This is also important:
“The meeting emphasised that studying, publicising and implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress should be in line with reality and strive for practical results; the deployment and requirements of the 20th Party Congress should be implemented in all fields of economic and social development. It is necessary to profoundly understand the analysis and assessment of the CPC Central Committee on the domestic and international situation, profoundly grasp the opportunities and challenges facing China’s development, enhance the sense of urgency, strengthen the bottom-line thinking, and make ideological and work preparations to deal with various complicated situations. Leading cadres at all levels must not forget their original aspirations, keep their mission in mind, must be modest and prudent, work hard, dare to fight, be good at fighting, take responsibility, be realistic and pragmatic, and do a good job in all work, so that the people can see the actual results of studying and implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress.” 会议强调，学习宣传贯彻党的二十大精神要联系实际、务求实效，把党的二十大的部署和要求落实到经济社会发展各领域各方面。要深刻领会党中央关于国内外形势的分析研判，深刻把握我国发展面临的机遇和挑战，增强忧患意识、强化底线思维，做好应对各种复杂局面的思想准备和工作准备。各级领导干部要务必不忘初心、牢记使命，务必谦虚谨慎、艰苦奋斗，务必敢于斗争、善于斗争，担当作为、求真务实，把各项工作抓紧抓好，让人民群众看到学习贯彻党的二十大精神的实际成效.
Page 6: The text of Xi’s report to the congress covers the earlier pages. On this page, there’s a report informing us that on Tuesday, the CMC held a work deployment meeting regarding the study, publicity and implementation of the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. CMC vice chair He Weidong presided over the meeting. But much of the content is from vice chairman Zhang Youxia’s comments. He said that studying, publicising and implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress was “the primary political task at present and in the future” for the entire armed forces. He called for “unifying thoughts and actions into the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Xi.” 把思想和行动统一到党中央、习主席决策部署上来.
He added that “it is necessary to learn to understand and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deepen the military’s ideological arming with Xi Jinping thought on strengthening the military further cultivate political loyalty, master ideological methods, and solve development problems. 要学懂弄通做实习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，深化习近平强军思想武装，进一步培塑政治忠诚、掌握思想方法、破解发展难题.
“It is necessary to comprehensively improve the ability to prepare for war in the new era, continuously deepen reform and innovation, promote the change of training methods, do a good job in major projects, forge a phalanx of talents, strengthen the rule of law, and constantly promote the high-quality development of our military.” 要全面提高新时代备战打仗能力，持续深化改革创新，推进训练模式变革，抓好重大工程，锻造人才方阵，加强法治建设，不断推动我军建设高质量发展.
While on the new CMC, Ananth Krishnan’s article in The Hindu on He Weidong being one of three PLA Generals promoted who were actively involved in recently leading the Army in the Western Theatre Command, which covers India, is worth reading.
First, He Weidong served as the Army (ground forces) commander of the WTC from 2016 until 2019.
Second, Xu Qiling, who was WTC Army Commander in 2020, has been appointed as one of 205 members of the Party’s new Central Committee. Xu was in charge during the LAC crisis, and was promoted from Lieutenant General to General to head the WTC in July 2021. Xu is now heading the joint staff department of the CMC
Third, General Wang Haijiang, who succeeded Hu to head the WTC, is also now part of the new Central Committee.
Next, there’s a report on Li Keqiang signing a State Council decree unveiling a regulation on advancing the development of self-employed businesses. Xinhua English reports:
“The regulation, which will take effect on Nov. 1, 2022, has set out specific preferential policies in areas including optimizing the business environment and protecting the lawful rights and interests of self-employed businesses. The regulation clarifies the role of self-employed businesses in the socialist market economy and the basic principles for promoting their development, and promises to simplify administrative procedures and improve the business environment to create favorable conditions for the healthy development of such businesses. Meanwhile, the working mechanism for promoting the development of the businesses is set up in the regulation. Support for these businesses in areas including registration of market entities, annual reporting services, supply of business premises as well as capital, taxation, finance, social security, entrepreneurship and employment will be provided by the government and its relevant departments.”
Page 7: A lot more reports of the congratulatory messages for Xi. And then a confirmation that General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong will be the first foreign leader to visit China after the Congress. His visit is scheduled from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.